


Home

by Mary1990



Category: Wynonna Earp - Fandom, Wynonna Earp tv
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-03-05 11:40:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13387053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mary1990/pseuds/Mary1990
Summary: When Nicole Haught first saw the woman of her dreams across a crowded bar she couldn’t know that her life was about to change forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment Nicole Haught spots her dream girl from across the crowded bar she couldn't know that her life was about to change, but it may or may not be for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this story between seasons 1 & 2 and wasn't thrilled with it. Recently I rediscovered it, did some rewriting and am much happier with the result. Christina Perri's song *Arms is the inspiration for this particular story and it seemed to fit. It's more cannon compliant then I usually write but there are some changes to it. I hope you enjoy reading.

*I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart  
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start  
You put your arms around me and I believe that it's easier for you to let me go  
You put your arms around me and I'm home

 

She had grown up in a small town so Nicole knew that the chances of finding someone special in this tiny town wasn't very likely. She knew in her mind that she would have to drive to the nearest city if she had any hope of finding someone to share her life with. Or at least that's what she told herself as she finished unpacking the last box containing her belongings. She only kept what she needed because until now she had lived a pretty nomadic life, never staying in one place for very long. So when Sheriff Nedley had reached out to her with a job offer she had taken it without hesitation, hoping to finally find a place where she could lay down some roots.

Nicole had been in Purgatory for a little over a week getting settled in and spending a great deal of her time observing the locals. She knew that if she was planning on making her move here a permanent one then getting to know who she was protecting as well as getting the lay of the land was a great way to start. Although there wasn't much to the town other than one main road and a few small neighborhoods, she had noticed that there was almost always some sort of excitement going on, especially at Shorty's.  
She was scheduled to start at the station the next morning so on this particular night she decided that it was time to start meeting the locals and she decided the best way to start was to go to Shorty's and watch the locals in action. Walking into her bedroom she opened her closet to pick out an outfit for the evening. After rejecting several choices she finally deciding on something casual that wouldn't draw too much attention to herself.

  
She walked into Shorty's and chose a corner in the back of the bar, sitting by herself she ordered a coffee and proceeded to look around, memorizing the faces of the patrons within the bar. Nicole wasn't much of a drinker and it served her well in her chosen profession, it wasn't that she didn't like the taste of alcohol rather she chose to not drink in order to keep her senses sharp.

  
Nicole sat back in her chair and sighed as she remembered her parent's reaction to two major decisions in her life. First, they weren't exactly thrilled that she had decided to become a police officer and Nicole could only think that maybe it was because she would be in constant danger. And the second thing was that they were less than thrilled when she came out to them and the discovery that Nicole preferred the company of ladies over men had left them on less than speaking terms while Nicole was away at the academy. At first Nicole had felt isolated by the silence of her parents but it wasn't long before she began to date Shae and suddenly she wasn't feeling so isolated. It was to her relief when they eventually came to accept her decisions and the prospect of losing their only daughter caused them to gradually accepted her for who she is.

  
Whatever she had with Shae died off as Nicole graduated from the academy and her ex had gone off to medical school. They parted on good terms and still spoke from time to time. Since then Nicole had dated off and on but hadn't found someone to get serious with, choosing instead to have fun which had led to her having a string of one night stands.

  
Sensing a presence Nicole looked up to find a man sitting in the chair across from her. He had dark hair and she supposed he was decent looking but the smirk on his face gave her the impression that he was full of himself. He leaned towards her and Nicole felt as if he were a predator seeking it's prey. Something about him made her skin crawl and she felt an overwhelming urge to smack that smirk right off of his face. The one thing Nicole Haught refused to be was someone's prey and she stared at him in disbelief as he began to speak.

  
"You must be new in town, I'm Champ and you are?" He was wearing a smug expression on his face and Nicole involuntarily moved further away from him as the heavy alcohol fumes struck her like a brick wall.

  
It was time to deflate his ego, "Not interested." She could tell that he wasn't used to being rejected and the look on his face made her want to smile.

  
He held up his hands in surrender and said, "Hey, I wasn't hitting on you I just wanted to say hello. I have a girlfriend, she works here."

  
Nicole could feel the disgust rising within her, "Such a lucky girl." Her sarcastic tone must have gone over his head because he sat back in hes chair and grinned at her statement.

  
"Yeah, I know she is." He leaned across the table and the smell of alcohol and cheap cologne made the bile rise in her throat, "So, do you want to get out of here so we can get to know each other better?" He reached out and placed his hand on her arm. "Come on girl, you know you want to get all up on this, I'm a local celebrity."

  
Nicole glanced down at the unwanted hand resting on her arm and she didn't even try to hide the look of anger and disgust that she was currently feeling at this unwanted attention. She raised her gaze and looked him in the eye before snapping, "Unless you want to lose that hand I suggest you remove it from my arm. And by the way, does your girlfriend know what a jackass you are? Don't ever put your hands on me or any other woman without their permission again, you got that?"

  
He could tell she meant business and he jerked his hand away, "Hey don't get so bent out of shape, I was only being friendly." He got up and before leaving said, "I should have known that you're one of those."  As he walked away from her she could have sworn that she heard him say, "bitch,"  over his shoulder.

  
Nicole watched him walk away, her hands beginning to ball into fists.  Forcing herself to calm down she decided at that moment that she had had enough, it was time to go. She reached over to get her jacket and that's when she saw the woman behind the bar. As she watched the woman moving easily behind the bar she couldn't stop staring and the longer she stared the stronger the butterflies in her stomach became. The woman was petite with long flowing brown hair and dark eyes, she had that girl next door persona about her that Nicole had always been attracted to. Currently the brunette was leaning on the bar and appeared to be having a heated discussion with a dark haired woman standing across from her.

  
She looked away for a second and stood up, her gaze involuntarily returning to the woman. She couldn't help herself, she felt drawn to her and knew she needed to meet her. She took a step towards her before pausing and turning towards the man sitting at the table next to her.

  
"Excuse me but can I ask you something? Who's the woman behind the bar over there."

  
"That's Waverly, Waverly Earp and the woman she's currently talking to is her sister, Wynonna."

  
"Earp as in..."

  
"Yep, _thee_   Wyatt Earp, their great great grandaddy."

  
"Thank you."

  
"I suggest you stay away from them, that family is trouble."

  
Nicole missed that particular comment as her gaze returned to Waverly.

  
Nicole smiled at the uniqueness of her name, Waverly. She liked the sound of it and decided that she wouldn't be the same until she introduced herself to the woman who had knocked her off her feet. She took two steps towards the beautiful brunette but stopped suddenly, a sick feeling forming in the pit of her stomach as the jackass who was hitting on her earlier walked up behind Waverly and wrapped his arms around her Nicole had to fight the urge to throw up the contents of her stomach as he disgustingly began dropping kisses onto the back of Waverly's neck. She felt a wave of revulsion wash over her and decided that she would have to wait to formally meet the one who was currently making her stomach do flip flops.

  
"I swear I don't know what the hell she sees in that man-child." An unexpected voice startled her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Wynonna standing next to her watching her sister being manhandled. "I wish she would wake up and realize that she's too good for him."

  
Nicole secretly agreed but refrained from comment. She turned towards Wynonna and held out her hand to introduce herself. At the sound of Nicole's last name Wynonna raised an eyebrow and a grin broke out on her face. She laughed, "Hot, as in hot in here, that's awesome!"

  
Nicole looked at her for a second, trying to decide if Wynonna was making fun of her, "Yes and no, it's spelled H a u g h t."

  
There was a commotion over by the bar and Wynonna rolled her eyes as she noticed her sister slapping Champ's drunken groping hands away from her. Wynonna turned to Nicole and said, "I've gotta go help her out, see you around Haughtstuff."

  
Nicole watched as she went over to the bar and grabbed Champ by the back of the shirt with enough force to send him sprawling. Waverly ran around the bar out of concern for him while raising her voice at her sister. A couple of guys helped Champ up and ensured Waverly that they would make sure he got home. The whole scene was like something from a movie and Nicole wasn't sure what to make of it. As she looked over to asess the situation she paused as she noticed Waverly staring straight at her with an odd look on her face. The two women locked eyes and it was if all the air was sucked right out of Nicole's body. There was no noise and everyone else in the bar vanished as all of her senses were focused on the beautiful brunette standing across the bar from her and she couldn't tear her gaze away from the other woman, it was as if they were the only two people who currently existed in the world. This went on for what seemed like an eternity but the spell was quickly broken when the police showed up and the sheriff started giving Wynonna a hard time.

  
Not wanting to get involved the night before her first shift at the station she quickly left the bar, walking the short distance to her apartment she felt like she was walking on air. Nicole kept thinking about Waverly and couldn't help smiling because whether the other woman realized it or not there was an attraction between them and it wasn't just one-sided. She began to form a plan, she would ask around and gather as much information as she could about Waverly Earp. This was necessary for Nicole before she worked up the courage to actually speak to her. The thought of doing that caused a wave of nervousness to briefly wash over Nicole but she quickly pushed it down, not wanting to scare the other woman off. As she climbed into bed that night images of Waverly's sweet face swam into view and she drifted off to sleep with a sense of hope and the promise of good things to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for giving this story a chance and as always kudos and comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Nicole sat at her desk in the station and sighed, she found herself starting to find her boss Nedley to be overbearing at times and she had fought the urge to roll her eyes as he told her that she would mainly be doing paperwork and tasks around the station until she proved that she could handle more. Nicole shook her head as she left his office, after all she had graduated from the academy at the top of her class and was well aware that she had the skills to do the job at a high level.

Nicole had been recruited by larger cities and she could have gone anywhere but instead she had chosen Purgatory because there was something about the town that seemed to call to her, like she was meant to be here. She quickly finished all of her paperwork and walked downstairs to the file room to place the cases she had completed into the appropriate files. Finishing, she took the stairs two at a time, hurrying back upstairs. She found the basement of the old Municipal building to be a little creepy and in Nicole's opinion the less time she spent down there the better. As she approached her desk she glanced up at the clock and smiled, it was lunchtime and Nicole had already finished all of her work for the day. Sighing, she thought about her current situation at work and she just wished Nedley could see that she was more than prepared to handle bigger cases, or at least to go out on patrol instead of spending all day sitting behind her desk filling out paperwork.

She poked her head into Nedley's office to let him know she was heading out to lunch and he grunted a reply to her that she took to mean that it was okay for her to head out. As she walked towards Mama Olive's diner her heart skipped a beat as she saw a flash of red and blue crossing the street in front of her. Waverly Earp was crossing the street and Nicole frowned as she noticed that she was with that jerk from Shorty's the other night. They didn't notice her standing there watching them because the two of them seemed to be in the middle of an argument about something. Stopping in front of the bar Champ bent down to kiss Waverly and Nicole smiled as she saw Waverly turn her head before he could land the kiss.

She could see Champ roll his eyes as he walked to his over sized pickup truck and got in, slamming the door before peeling out of her parking space, narrowly missing a car that was passing on the other side of the street. Nicole made a mental note to keep an eye on him in the future, that is, if Nedley ever let her go out on patrol. She shook off all thoughts of Champ Hardy and his terrible driving and concentrated on Waverly Earp. As she continued to walk toward the diner her step became a little lighter and she began whistling a happy tune to herself.

 

*****

 

Nicole returned to the station after lunch, her head in the clouds and walking on air because Waverly Earp was on her mind. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was going. In fact, she was so distracted that the only thing that snapped her out of her thoughts was her colliding with another person. Whoever she collided with was knocked to the floor and Nicole's head snapped up to find a cloud of papers and photos raining down onto the person who was now looking up at her from their new position on the floor.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened as she noticed exactly who it was that she had collided with.

Waverly Earp looked up at Nicole, irritation written all over her face, "You should watch where you're going! It's going to take me all day to reorganize all of this." She glanced down at her shirt, "And I'm covered in coffee, great!" She let out a deep sigh as she muttered under her breath, "As if this day wasn't shitty enough already."

Nicole held out her hand to help her up, "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought and didn't see you." Touching Waverly's hand sent a jolt of electricity through her and she didn't want to let go. As she stood there holding on to Waverly's hand the sensation caused her voice to lower in tone, "Let me help you, come on, I got you."

At the contact a blush crept onto Waverly's face, "Um, it's ok, I've got it." She cleared her throat and gave the taller woman a nervous smile.

Nicole noticed that Waverly's cheeks had a slightly pink hue to them and she fought to control the silly grin that was threatening to appear on her lips. She held up her hands, "I insist, it's my fault this happened and it's the least I could do. After we clean this up I have an extra shirt in my locker, you can borrow it if you'd like."   
Waverly glanced up at Nicole and looked her in the eye, "Thank you officer..."

"Where are my manners? It's Haught, Nicole Haught." She held out her hand again and this time Waverly took it.

"I'm Waverly Earp."

Bending down, Nicole began to pick up the various photos and papers that were scattered at her feet and she nodded, "I know who you are, I asked around."

At Nicole's words Waverly paused from picking up her papers and looked up Nicole with a shocked look on her face, "Wait, you asked people about me?"

"Of course, it's kind of my job, and I like to get to know the people I'm protecting." She looked Waverly in the eye and the other woman nervously glanced away, picking up the last of the papers from the floor. Nicole noticed this and said softly, "if you're ready we can go get that shirt now."

Waverly nodded and followed Nicole to the locker room, walking inside Waverly noticed that it wasn't much bigger than a broom closet. She found it uncomfortably small and being in such close quarters with the redheaded officer was making her very nervous.

Nicole looked over at Waverly and noticed the odd look on her face, "I know, it's really cramped in here. Since there are only three of us women currently on staff, the Sheriff didn't think that we needed a larger room. It would have been nice to have a bathroom in here thought, walking all the way across the building is kind of a pain." There was barely enough room to turn around and when Nicole had brought up the fact that they didn't even have shower facilities, she was shot down by the Sheriff as he informed her that they didn't have it in the budget. Nicole reached past Waverly and opened her locker, quickly pulling her spare t-shirt out and handing it to Waverly.

Out of respect Nicole turned away as Waverly changed. She faced away until she heard Waverly say, "Okay, all done." Nicole turned around and the sight of Waverly standing there in her "Property of Purgatory Sheriff's Department" shirt made her heart skip a beat and her mouth to go dry. The look on Nicole's face made Waverly blush and she quickly looked away, "Thanks for the shirt officer, I'll return it to you as soon as possible."

"Please call me Nicole and there's really no hurry, take as long as you need." She reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, a nervous habit she had developed as a child, " Look, I'm sorry about earlier, I should have been watching where I was going. At least let me buy you a cup of coffee to replace your's. I'm free tonight if you're interested."

Waverly's eyes widened, "I'm sorry...I, I have plans, I'm uh meeting Champ..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed the look on Nicole's face. She was expecting to find a look of disappointment but instead she found Nicole staring at her with what her sister Wynonna would describe as a puppy dog look. Waverly cleared her throat and she slowly realized that nobody had ever looked at her like that before. She began to feel a stirring within her chest at the thought that the virtual stranger standing in front of her seemed to have feelings for her. As another blush crept up on her face, she nervously said, "I uh need to go, it was nice meeting you Nicole, and thanks for the shirt." 

Nicole stepped aside and held out her arm towards the door in what she hoped was a gallant gesture, "Another time then."

A small smile formed on Waverly's mouth and she nodded as she hurried from the room.

After she was gone Nicole released her breath realizing for the first time that she had been holding it ever since she had received that smile from Waverly. Her knees gave out and she sat down quickly onto the room's only chair. She closed her eyes and all she could see was Waverly's face. She sat there for what seemed like hours, a single thought crossing her mind over and over again. Waverly Earp was going to be the death of her and she couldn't wait.

 

*****

 

As the weeks went by, weird things began to happen and they all seemed to center around Wynonna Earp and the people surrounding her. Nicole wasn't naive she knew that Black Badge and especially the asshole in charge were up to something big and she didn't like being kept in the dark about it because the object of her affection seemed to be right in the middle of things. The thought of Waverly being in danger made Nicole's stomach form knots, she was so worried that something bad would happen to Waverly that she was finding it hard to concentrate at work. 

She would sit at her desk and stare across the hall at the closed door leading to the Black Badge offices in silent hope that Waverly would walk out that door, whenever that would happen she couldn't tear her eyes away and when Waverly would notice her staring, Nicole would flash her a dimpled smile. Nicole was smitten and she was determined to let Waverly know, actually smitten wasn't exactly the word that Nicole would use to describe her feelings towards the brunette. Whenever they ran into each other at the station or on the street Nicole was always quick with a compliment and she would grin when those compliments would make Waverly blush.

The two of them began to spend time together, meeting for coffee frequently at the diner and Nicole found herself going to Shorty's after her shifts just so that she could talk to Waverly about her day. The shorter woman would laugh and reach out to touch Nicole and her skin would tingle wherever the brunette would touch her. 

Nicole suspected that Waverly was slowly developing feelings for her and despite her own feelings towards Waverly she refused to push her into admitting something she wasn't ready for. Nicole was also aware that Waverly wasn't quite sure of her feelings towards her and she decided that she needed to give her the space to discover them for herself. The last thing Nicole wanted to do was move so quickly that she scared Waverly off. And there was also the fact that Waverly was still in a relationship with Champ, much to Nicole's dismay.

Just the thought of Champ Hardy putting his hands on Waverly made her skin crawl. The guy was a jerk and it was a well known fact around town that he wasn't faithful to Waverly in the least. In Nicole's opinion Champ Hardy was a fool and Waverly deserved so much better than him. Waverly deserved the world and Nicole wished that she would wake up and see that Champ Hardy wasn't worthy of her. If that day ever came Nicole would be there to help her pick up the pieces, she would be there for Waverly in whatever form she needed.

 

*****

 

As the weather became nicer Nicole had gotten into the habit of eating her lunch in the park and on this particular day she just happened to overhear a couple of locals whose names currently escaped her talking, well more like gossiping. Normally she would ignore the gossip but she was listening intently because the person they were talking about was Waverly. Nicole almost choked on her sandwich when she heard the news that Waverly had finally dumped Champ, apparently for good this time. An involuntary grin crept onto her lips as she heard the news and her heart pounded in her chest. Waverly had finally come to her senses where he was concerned and Nicole almost skipped back into the office when she returned to work.

She sat down at her desk and dialed Waverly's number and when it went to voicemail Nicole left her a message, "Hey Wave, it's Nicole. I heard about what happened and if you need someone to talk to I'm here for you." She hung up the phone and sat back in her chair dreading the next couple of overnight shifts that she would be working. It wasn't that she minded working late, Nicole had always been a night owl, it was the complete and utter boredom she couldn't stand.

After her shift she headed over to Shorty's in search of Waverly and was disappointed to learn that she had the next couple of days off. Seeing Waverly had become the hightlight of her day and Nicole ordered some food to go. Nicole didn't want to stay at Shorty's when Waverly wasn't there and an added incentive to leave was the fact that Champ Hardy was sitting at a table in the back of the bar drowning his sorrows and loudly telling anyone who would listen about how Waverly broke his heart. She rolled her eyes as she listened to the pity party and when her order was ready she paid and left the bar. She wasn't looking forward to returning home alone without seeing the brunette and she sighed as she quickly walked towards her lonely apartment.

Nicole entered her building and walked up the stairs, as she rounded the corner she stopped in her tracks as she saw someone leaning against the wall next to her front door. Her surprise turned into concern as she saw the look on the other woman's face, "Waverly, what are you doing here? Are you okay?" 

"I uh, thought I'd take you up on your offer." At Nicole's confused look she continued, "Your voicemail."

"Oh yeah, sorry." She took out her key and unlocked the door, "Come in." She walked inside and turned on the light. Waverly followed her and Nicole shut and locked the door behind her. She gestured towards the couch, "Make yourself at home, I was about to eat dinner." 

"I"m sorry, I should go." Waverly took a step towards the door, "I didn't mean to intrude."

Nicole reached out and took her hand, "You're not and I was going to say that I have more than enough food for two, that is if you're hungry." At Waverly's nod Nicole placed the bag on the coffee table and walked towards the kitchen, "Do you want something to drink? How about a beer?"

Waverly took off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door, "I'd love one." She sat down on the couch and looked up as Nicole approached her with the beers and two plates. They sat on the couch and ate and Waverly talked about her mixed feelings about her break up with Champ. 

Nicole ate and listened to what she had to say, letting her vent about how stupid she had been to put up with Champ's crap for as long as she had. She refrained from comment as the words spilled out of Waverly's mouth. Nicole could tell that this was a long time coming and that Waverly had held all of this in for far too long. 

She was glad that she could be there to lend Waverly an ear when she needed her. Nicole was extremely happy that Waverly was now free but she was careful not to let it show. The fact that Waverly had come to her home, seeking her out for comfort made her heart soar and an odd sense of contentment began to settle into her chest.

Waverly looked up at the clock, "Oh, I didn't realize how late it is, I'm so sorry I kept you up." She got up to leave but Nicole reached out and placed her hand on Waverly's arm.   
"You don't have to leave, I don't work until late tomorrow and you can stay as long as you need." She stared into Waverly's eyes, "You are welcome here anytime Waverly."

Waverly averted her gaze for a moment before looking back over at Nicole, she brought her hand up and placed it on top of Nicole's, "That's very sweet of you. But I should probably go before Wynonna wonders where I've gone, especially after what happened to day."

Waverly got up off the couch and Nicole walked her to the door. Standing in front of it Waverly stopped and reached up on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on Nicole's cheek.   
"Thank you Nicole."

"For?"

"For being such a great friend, I needed someone today and you were there for me and I won't forget it." She reached out and ran a finger slowly down Nicole's arm before reaching her hand and giving it a tiny squeeze.

Nicole helped Waverly put her coat on and she fought an internal battle as Waverly walked out of her apartment, "Hey Wave." Nicole called after her and smiled as Waverly turned around. "You never have to thank me and I want you to know that I'll always be here for you, whenever you need me."

Waverly reached out and squeezed Nicole's hand, "I know and I really appreciate it." She sighed and reluctantly pulled her hand away, turning and walking down the hallway.  
She turned the corner and Nicole could hear her descending the stairs, she closed the door and leaned against it, touching her cheek where Waverly had kissed her. She grinned and pushed herself off of the door and got ready for bed, thoughts of Waverly Earp flooding her brain and love for the woman flooding her heart.


	3. Chapter 3

Nicole sat at her desk staring off into space and daydreaming. She and Waverly were on a date and afterward they had gone to Nicole's apartment to watch a movie. In Nicole's fantasy they weren't watching the movie, instead Wavery was laying fully on top of Nicole pressing her into the couch as they kissed passionately and her hands wandered down over soft curves and up underneath Waverly's shirt.

Someone knocked at the door and startled her out of her daydream, looking up she found Wynonna standing in the doorway holding an ever present bottle of whiskey in her hand. Wynonna looked surprised as Nicole mentioned the party that Waverly was throwing at the homestead, a party that apparently neither of them had been invited to. A brief look of hurt passed over Wynonna's face but it was gone just as quick as it had appeared and Nicole was both impressed and saddened by the other woman's ability to quickly bury her emotions deep down inside. Nicole made a decision right then and there that she would not only be there for Waverly but for her sister as well. If Wynonna Earp needed anything it was a friend, someone who wouldn't judge her for her past and Nicole was determined to be that person.

The two women spent the next hour bonding while sharing Wynonna's bottle of whiskey. Nicole knew that she shouldn't be drinking when she was on duty but the fact that she was at the station for the third Saturday evening in a row made her not care about the rules. Wynonna passed the bottle back over to Nicole and she took a drink and almost choked when Wynonna told her that one of the people invited to the party was the sheriff's daughter Chrissy. She looked over in time to see Wynonna roll her eyes as she talked about Waverly's friends and how shallow they could be.

When Wynonna suggested that Waverly should hang out with Nicole more, she readily agreed but she was sure that the other woman was oblivious to the fact that spending time with Waverly meant something entirely different to Nicole. She liked Wynonna and admired her spirit despite the fact that she was the polar opposite of her sister.

 

*****

 

It was nearing the end of her shift as Nicole received the call that there had been an incident at the Earp Homestead. As she climbed into her cruiser and drove out there she thought back to the weird things that had taken place earlier that evening. 

She and Wynonna had continued to talk and she hadn't thought that it was too strange that Wynonna had asked to see the body of the latest victim that was laying in morgue. After all Wynonna was involved with the secret organization housed in the municipal building so if she could aid the Sheriff's department to solve the string of recent murders then Nicole was all for accepting her help.

The morgue attendent had given Nicole a bad feeling but she had brushed it because if she was being honest with herself she would never understand how someone could spend most of their time in the company of dead bodies. After the latest victim's body had been tampered with the tentative peace between Nicole and Wynonna had all but disappeared as Nicole tried to solve the puzzle of what had happened and Wynonna all but accused the red-head of doing it herself to mess with her.

As she pulled onto the gravel drive of the Earp homestead, several black SUVs drove past her and in the opposite direction from town. Nicole frowned about this latest development but her concern all but vanished as she reached out and knocked on the front door. Wynonna answered the door and as Nicole looked past her into the house she could see a visibily shaken Waverly sitting at the table. 

"I heard that there was some kind of home invasion here tonight, is everyone okay?" She gestured with her head towards Waverly and quietly asked Wynonna, "Is she okay, what happened?"

Wynonna stepped to the side and sighed, "She's just being Waverly, she'll be all right, come in."

Nicole stepped inside and walked over to Waverly, putting her hand on her shoulder. "Waverly, are you..can you tell me what happened?"

Waverly looked up at her and Nicole's heart broke as she saw the tears in her eyes, "I, I killed someone."

"What?" She looked over at Wynonna, "You what?"

Wynonna looked amused, "Apparently she scissored a stripper."

Nicole paused, gave Wynonna a confused look and glanced over at Waverly. "What..."

Wynonna shrugged, "It was a bachelorette party, there was a stripper." Nicole stared at her, unable to understand how the other woman could be so casual about what had happened in her home earlier.

Waverly stood up, crying and stepped towards Nicole, "I've never killed anyone before, he came after me and I...I Stabbed him with the scissors. It was, it was awful."

Nicole opened her arms and Waverly closed the gap, pressing her face into Nicole's chest she began to sob. She wrapped her arms around the shorter woman, her only concern being that Waverly needed comfort and reassurance that everything would be okay. She buried her face into Waverly's hair and whispered, "It's okay, everything's going to be okay, I promise Wave, shhh." Neither of them noticed as Wynonna quietly left the room.

She held Waverly and let her cry it out and when her tears were spent Nicole reached down and tenderly wiped the the remaining tears from Waverly's cheeks with her thumbs. "Can I get you anything?"

Waverly shook her head and reburied her face into Nicole's chest and Nicole had to strain to hear the muffled "thank you" that Waverly said as she continued to remain in the safety of Nicole's embrace.

 

*****

 

Nicole reluctantly eased herself away from Waverly's side and softly climbed off the bed. She opened the chest at the foot of Waverly's bed and covered her up with a heavy quilt before taking her leave from the room. She had sat with her back against the headboard as Waverly had snuggled into her and drifted off into some much needed sleep.

As Nicole walked out of Waverly's bedroom and into the living room she found Wynonna sitting at the table staring out of the front window. Wynonna pointed at it with the bottle of whisky in her hand and said, "They pulled Willa out of that window right before I shot my father. I remember the screaming, so much screaming. She took another drink from her bottle, "Did you know that I killed my own father?"

Nicole's expression softened as she looked at Wynonna, "I'm sorry that happened, it must have been terrible for you."

"Changed my life," she snorted, " Ruined it actually." she nodded toward the bedroom, "How is she?" 

Nicole glanced over at the closed door to Waverly's bedroom "She's sleeping, I think she's gonna be okay, at least I hope so."

Wynonna took another drink from her bottle, "You care about her, I can tell."

Nicole looked her in the eye, "Yes, she's a very special person. How can I not?"

Wynonna reached out and put a hand on Nicole's arm, "Good, she needs a friend like you, someone who doesn't judge and accepts her for who she is. "

"Well she has me, I'll be here for as long as she needs."

If Wynonna would have been sober she may have seen Nicole's true feeling for Waverly, they were written all over her face. Instead Wynonna was content to believe that the two women were friends and she stood up and threw an arm around Nicole's shoulder, "I'm starving, you up for pancakes? My treat."

Nicole hesitated, the thought of Waverly waking up alone making her pause. Atlthough every fiber of her being screamed at her to stay, her rumbling stomach seemed to decide for her. She knew that Waverly would be asleep for hours and she nodded. As she followed Wynonna out of the house she glanced back towards Waverly's bedroom before shutting the door behind her.

 

*****

 

She struggled, her head heavy, it was dark. Someone was carrying her, then she hit the ground and she grunted as someone kicked her in the ribs. She heard him say, "You're the wrong kind." Then something was being thrown on top of her, she was cold and suddenly it was difficult to breathe. 

Nicole woke up suddenly from her nightmare, her clothes soaked in sweat. Waverly was sitting by her bed in the hospital, she looked like she hadn't slept in days. When she saw that Nicole was awake Waverly reached out and took her hand, "How are you feeling?" 

Her head and chest hurt and the cut on her hand was killing her but she couldn't be concerned about that, not while Wynonna Earp was still missing, "Any news on your sister?"  
Waverly shook her head, "No, she's still missing. I heard Dolls tell Doc that there's a good chance that she's, that she's...'' her voice trailed off, unable to say that Wynonna might be dead out loud. Nicole opened her mouth to speak but she didn't get a chance to say a word as Waverly began to sob as she ran from the room.

Nicole had to fight the overwhelming urge to call out to Waverly and bring her back into the room. She wanted to hold her in her arms and comfort her, she wanted to take away her pain. She cared deeply for Waverly and along with that came an overwhelming urge to protect her at all costs. She vowed that she would keep her from harm, even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice for her. She stared at the door, willing Waverly to come back but to her dismay Waverly didn't come back.

As she sat alone in her hospital room she came to a realization, it wasn't just that she cared deeply for Waverly, she loved her with her whole heart. She knew that she wanted Waverly in her life and if the other woman didn't share the same feelings with her then she would just have to be content with being friends with Waverly. 

Nicole suspected that Waverly had feelings for her that went beyond friendship but she didn't want to push her. She knew that Waverly would need to figure things out at her own pace and Nicole was nothing if not patient. The last thing she wanted was to scare Waverly off by revealing her feeling towards her.

 

*****

 

Nicole was released from the hospital and stayed home from work for the next couple of days. Waverly had brought her home and against Nicole's protests had stocked her kitchen with food. She was currently sitting on her couch half watching whatever show was on the television and wishing that Waverly was there with her, she missed chatting with Waverly but she understood that locating Wynona had to be the priority for Waverly. She was currently contemplating whether or not she should disturb the cat who was currently curled up asleep in her lap by getting up and going to bed. At the sound of someone knocking at her door, she gently got up and moved her cat to the other end of the couch before walking to the door. She looked out the peephole as she had done since her kidnapping and assault and smiled as she saw who was standing outside in the hallway, she opened the door to find Waverly standing there smiling up at her.

Nicole couldn't help but smile back at her, her dimples flashing as she grinned back at Waverly. She adored her and there was not doubt in her mind that Waverly knew it. "Waves, what a nice surprise!"

Waverly was practically bouncing up and down in excitement, "I just dropped by to tell you that they found Wynonna, she's going to be okay!"

"That's great news!" It occured to Nicole at that moment that Waverly could have called to let her know but she wasn't complaining. "Do you want to come in for a minute?"

Waverly paused, a tiny look of doubt crossing her face for a moment before she breathed in and nodded her head. Nicole stepped aside and let her enter the room which served as her living room, kitchen and bedroom. Waverly noticed her unmade bed in the corner and nervously looked away from it to find Nicole grinning at her before asking if she wanted to have a seat on the couch.

Waverly sat down and shyly asked Nicole, "How are you?"

"I'm doing good, good enough to return to work the day after tomorrow." Secretly her heart was racing and she had to restrain herself from reaching out and running her fingers through Waverly's hair. 

"That's great. Anyway, I wanted to tell you about my sister in person, and I..." her voice trailed off for a moment. "I wanted to check on you."

"You were worried about me?"

Waverly touched her arm "Of course, you went through a terrible ordeal, nobody should have to go through something like that." She cleared her throat and quickly pulled her hand away, her face turning red.

"I'm making you nervous..."

"No, not at all." She looked away as her face began to turn pink.

"I am, I assure you it's not my intention." Waverly was blushing and Nicole found her absolutely adorable.

Waverly got up off the couch, "I'm glad you're ok. I should go, I need to check on Wynonna." 

Nicole reluctantly got up and walked her to the door, "He Wave, will you do me a favor?"

Waverly paused, "What is it?"

"Tell your sister that I'm glad she's okay and I'm still waiting on those pancakes."

"I will." Waverly glanced briefly at Nicole's lips before looking up to find Nicole gazing intently at her. "Um, we'll talk later."

Nicole couldn't resist and reached out to take her hand and give it a squeeze as she continued to stare. "Yes we will. Goodnight Waves." She released her hand and watched as Waverly hurried down the hall and out the front door, glancing back and smiling at Nicole before leaving.


	4. Chapter 4

Several weeks had passed since Waverly had visited Nicole at her apartment and they had met for coffee and flirted with each other almost every morning. Nicole went out of her way to treat Waverly how she deserved to be treated and every time the two of them would meet or even pass each other in the hallway at the Municipal building her heart would race.

Nicole sat behind the counter in the station and wondered what was going on behind the closed door to the offices across the hall. She had heard shouting and a crash. Waverly had come out and returned shortly with some ice then went back into the offices, closing the door behind her. Ever since she and Wynonna had been kidnapped she was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of all this weirdness that seemed to surround the people currently in that room. Her main concern was for Waverly and what she was mixed up in, she didn't want her to get hurt. Unfortunately none of them were giving up any information. 

She heard the door burst open and she looked up to see Waverly storming out of the room, "Shit Tickets, I'll show you, I'll..." She stopped when she noticed Nicole watching her.

Nicole stood up and walked around the counter towards Waverly, "Are you okay what's wrong?"

Waverly crossed her arms and dropped her gaze, refusing look at Nicole, "It's nothing."

"Hey, it's not nothing, you're obviously upset. You know you can talk to me." She took a step closer. "About anything."

Waverly opened her mouth then abruptly closed it again when the door opened behind her and Wynonna came strutting out, "Babygirl, I thought you were going...oh hey Nicole."  
Nicole looked at Wynonna then over at Waverly again, "We'll talk later ok?" She turned around and walked back to her desk.

Waverly watched her walk away and whispered, "Yeah, we will." Nicole always seemed to say what she needed to hear and Waverly's heart began to beat faster as she thought about what she had been wanting to say to Nicole for awhile now. Suddenly feeling better about things, Waverly turned around and followed her sister back into the offices across the hall.

 

*****

 

Nicole finished her report and looked up at the clock, the station was deserted and she should have been off thirty minutes ago. She sighed, not exactly looking forward to going home and being alone. She decided to stop at Shorty's on her way home hoping to at least see Waverly there, knowing that the sight of her would brighten up her otherwise dull existence. 

She couldn't help but smile as she thought about Waverly Earp. She was so damn beautiful and Nicole wished that Waverly could see what a remarkable woman she is. Nicole didn't know why Waverly was filled with so much self doubt but she was determined to do everything in her power to show Waverly that she mattered and that there was someone in her corner.

Nicole had spent the rest of her shift out on patrol so she hadn't seen Waverly since earlier in the day. Her mood always lifted just at the sight of the brunette and she sighed as she entered the locker room. Opening her locker she took out her bag and placed it on the bench as she began to unbutton her shirt. The sound of the door opening and closing behind her made her jump and she spun around to find the object of her affection standing just inside the door.

"Waverly you scared me, what are you doing here?"

Waverly raised her hand and Nicole could see that she was holding the shirt that she had borrowed, "Um, I wanted to return this and..."

Waverly took a step forward and Nicole noticed that she was staring at her with darking eyes. Nicole's eyes followed Waverly's gaze down and her face reddened as she realized that her shirt was halfway unbuttoned and Waverly was staring at the skin that was exposed to her gaze. Nicole raised her eyes, locking them with Waverly's and she raised an eyebrow in realization as Waverly licked her lips.

When she realized that she had been caught staring, Waverly blushed as she struggled to tear her gaze away, "I, uh wanted to apologize for earlier."

Nicole gave Waverly a look of understanding that made her heart melt within her chest, "It's ok, you were upset, it's understandable."

"No, that's not it at all, I want to apologize for not saying, for not telling you..." she looked up at Nicole then quickly looked away, her face turning a deeper shade of red. Losing her nerve she nerve she stammered, "M...Maybe I should go."

The mixed signals she was getting from Waverly was grating on her nerves and Nicole huffed out a breath before saying, "For telling me what? Waverly, if you don't tell me what's wrong I can't help you." She turned towards her locker in frustration and said over her shoulder, "It's been a long day and I'm tired, if you don't want to tell me then don't." She slammed her locker shut and spun back around. "Look, I know there are things going on around here, weird things involving your sister, things that maybe I can't understand but the thought of you being mixed up in it and being in danger..." She looked away for a moment before her gaze slowly returned to Waverly's face, "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

She had said that last part so softly that Waverly wasn't sure she had heard it at first and she stared at Nicole, her heart racing as she gathered the courage to say what she needed to say. She knew that it was now or never to she stepped closer to Nicole and blurted out, "Earlier I wanted to tell you something..."

Nicole's face softened, she could tell that Waverly was struggling with something but the last thing she wanted was to push her into saying something that Waverly wasn't quite ready for, but the thought of hearing the words she longed to hear coming from Waverly's mouth filled her with hope, "Whatever it is, I meant it when I said you can tell me anything."

Waverly held up her hand, "Please, if you don't let me say this now I might lose my nerve and I won't be able to tell you." She looked tenderly into Nicole's eyes, "Maybe I'll just show you instead," She reached up and wrapped her arms around Nicole's neck pulling her head down and pressing her lips against Nicole's eager mouth.

Nicole wrapped her arms around Waverly's waist and pulled her into her body as the kiss intensified. She couldn't believe that this was really happening and she didn't want the moment to end but she had to be sure. She pulled away and looked deep into Waverly's eyes. "I need to know, is this what you really want? I mean, are you sure?"  
Waverly smiled, "Yes. When I think about what I want, it's you. It took me so long to realize what I was feeling, I would close my eyes and all I could see was your face, I would dream about you at night..." Her voice trailed off and the look on Nicole's face made her blush.

Nicole ran her hands softly up and down Waverly's back and gave her a dimpled grin, "Really, what kind of dreams?"

"Well, um, you know." At the sight of Nicole grinning at her, Waverly's face turned a bright shade of crimson. She tried to pull away but Nicole still had her arms wrapped around her waist and wasn't about to let her go.

"You are so adorable, I love it when you blush." Nicole stared into Waverly's eyes, she wanted to tell her how she felt but it was too soon and the last thing Nicole wanted was to put pressure on Waverly. Instead, she dropped her head down and kissed her again and again.

Waverly's phone buzzed and they broke apart, "It's Wynonna, she has something important to tell me. I have to go." She smiled and gave Nicole another kiss before pulling away, "I'll call you later."

"I'm off tomorrow, come over around five and I'll cook you dinner. We can talk some more and get to know each other a little better."

"I'd really like that Nicole, I'll be there." She gave Nicole another quick kiss before leaving the room.

As Nicole watched her go, her heart swelled in her chest and she was left with a feeling of hope that things were definately looking up.

 

*****

 

Nicole woke up happy and there wasn't anything that could spoil the good mood she found herself in. She turned on some music, dancing around her apartment as she tidied up and cleaned which didn't take long because her place was so tiny. She left briefly to go to the store for groceries and when she returned she began to prepare dinner. The food was in the oven and she had a little over an hour before Waverly would arrive so she took a shower and got dressed. She usually wore sweats or shorts around the house but this evening was special and she chose her outfit carefuly. Nicole looked at herself in the mirror as she finished getting dressed and decided that she looked good and she hoped that Waverly would like what she saw. As she finished buttoning the last button on her shirt she heard a knock on her door. A huge smile spread across her face and her heart flipped in her chest as she went over to open it. 

As expected Waverly was standing in the hallway and as Nicole's eyes traveled down Waverly's body admiring the view she noticed that the brunette was holding a basket in her hand. 

She flashed a smile, not caring that she had been shamlessly checking the other woman out, "Hi, come in." Nicole stepped aside so that Waverly could enter the apartment.

As Waverly walked past her she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Nicole's check before handing her the basket, "I made my world famous banana muffins, I thought you might like some."

Nicole set the basket on the table before looking back at Waverly, "Thank you, and you look amazing by the way."

Waverly's cheeks turned a subtle shade of pink but it soon disappered as she looked Nicole up and down, "You clean up pretty nice yourself Officer Haught."

"You keep looking at me like that and we might miss dinner." She winked at Waverly before going to take dinner out of the oven, not missing the fact that her comment had made Waverly drop her eyes as she blushed once again. Nicole gestured over at her tiny dining room table, "Have a seat, I'll be right back."

Nicole brought two full plates of food over to the table and placed one of them in front of Waverly. She returned shortly with a bottle of wine and as Nicole filled their glasses Waverly took a bite and said, "Wow, this is really good. I had no idea you could cook like this."

Nicole sat down across from her and began to eat, "Well, you might be surprised to learn that I didn't always want to be a cop. I actually went to culinary school before I decided to join the academy."

Waverly sat back in her chair, a look of surprise written all over her face, "Really, why did you change your mind?"

Nicole paused for a second, "Something happened that changed the course of my life." Her mood changed and she looked away. "Something I don't like to think about."

The thought of something terrible happening to Nicole made Waverly's heart jump into her throat but she swallowed it down, determined to support Nicole. She reached over and placed her hand on top on Nicole's, "I'm here for you and you can tell me anything."

Nicole grimaced and she dropped her gaze, "I know, it's just a painful memory and difficult for me to talk about." 

Waverly was concerned, "Did something bad happen to you?"

She shook her head, "Not to me, to my roommate."

Waverly wrapped her fingers around Nicole's hand hoping that she would find comfort in her gesture. Nicole tightened her own hand around Waverly's and took a deep breath. "I remember that night like it was yesterday, I was out on a date and while I was gone someone broke into our apartment and attacked my roomate while she slept. When I got home I found her, she was in pretty bad shape, he cut her up pretty bad and there was blood everywhere. I'll never get that image out of my head and I kept thinking that if I had been there maybe I could have stopped him."

"Or maybe he would have hurt you too Nicole. You can't blame yourself for what that man did."

Nicole sighed and stood up, "I know it isn't my fault Wave, but it didn't stop me from feeling that way. And to make matters worse they never caught the guy and she left school, unfortunately we lost touch." She began to pace back and forth as she continued, "That's when I made the decision to become a police officer because I wanted to help people and to stop something like this from happening again." 

She stopped pacing as she nearly collided with Waverly who was now standing in front of her. She swallowed and looked Waverly in the eye, "It's part of the reason why I have such a hard time with you being in danger because when I look at you I get this overwhelming urge to protect you."

Waverly looked stunned, "I can take care of myself Nicole."

Hoping to lighten the mood, Nicole grinned and said, "I know you can, I wouldn't ever want to be on the other side of an angry Waverly Earp, that's for damn sure. I've seen what happens to those who do, you are a force to be reckoned with!"

Waverly looked hurt by her words, "You're making fun of me."

Nicole shook her head, "No, I would never do that. Most of the time I'm in awe of you. I admire your spirit and I hope you never change because it's one of the things I love most about you." 

Waverly searched Nicole's face and could see the truth in what she said. " I love the way you look at me, it makes me feel as if I'm the only person in the room."

Nicole smiled down at her, "Because you are."

Waverly reached out and took Nicole's hands within her own, "Well, if you catch me staring it's because I really like the way you look in your uniform, there's something about seeing you strutting around in those khaki pants..." realizing what she had admitted, she let go of Nicole's hands and began to turn away.

Nicole reached out to retake Waverly's hand and stop her from turning away, "I actually hate those pants, they're so ugly and they make my butt look big!"

"I don't think they make your butt look big at all, I think they fit you perfectly."

"Oh, so you're saying that you've been checking out my butt huh?" Nicole said with a devilish look on her face.

Waverly arched an eyebrow, "Well, yeah, I mean can you blame me, have you seen it?"

It was Nicole's turn to blush and she opened her mouth to make a comment but was cut off as Waverly's phone went off. The jarring ringtone startled her and she involuntaraly jerked her hand away from Waverly's. 

Waverly looked at her phone and sighed, "It's my sister, she has the worst timing."

"Are you going to answer it? It might be important."

Waverly looked at Nicole and simply said, "No," she shut the phone off completely and put it in her purse. She reached out and reclaimed Nicole's hand, "She'll just have to live without me for one night, this is more important."

Nicole grinned, "So you're saying that I'm more important than your sister?"

"Nicole..."

She dropped her eyes, "It's ok you don't have to answer that." She looked up to find Waverly staring at her and was startled by how intense her gaze was, it took her breath away and she was suddenly consumed by an intense feeling of longing. Letting go of Waverly's hand she wrapped her arms around Waverly's waist, her head dipped down quickly and she sighed as she captured Waverly's mouth with her own. 

Waverly returned the kiss and they moved quickly to the couch dropping down on it as Nicole pulled Waverly down on top of her, her arms tightening around her so that she could pull Waverly tighter into her body. Their limbs were intertwined with one another and their kisses were blazing hot. Nicole ran her fingers through Waverly's long flowing hair as she greedily claimed Waverly's lips. She stopped for a moment and stared at the beautiful woman above her, coming to a decision she hoped wouldn't scare the other woman off. She took a deep breath and softly said, "I love you Wave." 

At Nicole's words Waverly felt her heart begin to thump in her chest and she dipped her head back down in order to feverishly kiss Nicole once again. She knew that things were moving fast, maybe too fast but her feelings and emotions wouldn't let her stop or slow things down. All she knew in that moment is that she wanted Nicole and hearing Nicole's declaration of love only intesified those feelings.

Waverly pulled back for a second, "Maybe we should take this over there," she glanced over towards Nicole's bed before kissing her again.

Nicole managed to break away for a moment, "Wait, hey Wave wait a minute." She looked up at Waverly needing to know, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Waverly nodded, "I've never been more sure of anything, I want this Nicole, I want..."

It was all the invitation that Nicole needed, she flipped Waverly onto her back and kissed her before getting up and pulling her to her feet. They walked slowly towards the bed, stopping next to it. Nicole reached up and began to slowly unbutton Waverly's shirt before slowly pushing it off of her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Wrapping her arms around Waverly's waist Nicole began to drop kisses onto the exposed skin that was now visible to her as she slowly ran her hands up and down Waverly's back.

The moment was suddenly shattered by a loud pounding on the door. They broke apart as they looked towards it together.

The pounding continued, "Nicole! Open the door."

Waverly groaned and rolled her eyes, "How did she find me? I'm going to kill her."

Nicole stared down at Waverly, frustrated that they had been interrupted, "I'll get rid of her." She leaned down and gave Waverly a kiss, "But just in case, you might want to put your shirt back on."

Waverly picked up her shirt and went into the bathroom, Nicole could hear her muttering something about overprotective sisters under her breath and she found herself agreeing with Waverly on the subject.

As the pounding continued Nicole called out, "Just a minute Wynonna!" When Waverly was out of sight she moved to open the door. She had barely gotten it open when the other woman pushed her way through. "Well, come on in." Nicole said sarcastically.

"I'm looking for my sister, have you seen her? I need to talk to her, something has happened and..." She looked up to find Waverly coming out of the bathroom. "I called you and you didn't answer, I was worried."

Waverly looked irritated, "I don't need a babysitter, I'm a big girl Wynonna."

Wynonna walked over and grasped Waverly's arm, "We need to go home now. I need to show you something."

Waverly pulled her arm away from her sister, "Whatever it is can wait until morning."

Wynonna shook her head, "No it can't, we need to go now."

Waverly looked over at Nicole before facing her sister, "No, I'm tired of you just expecting me to drop everything and run everytime you call. I have a life and we were in the middle of something..."

Nicole felt the need to keep the peace, "Waves it's ok, we can continue our...conversation later."

Waverly looked at her with a stunned expression, "Absolutely not Nicole, she's just going to have to realize that..."

Nicole held up her hand, "Waverly it's obviously important, look at her." Wynonna had a panicked expression on her face and was almost dancing in place. "Go with her, it's okay."

Waverly looked over at Wynonna, "Fine, go wait in the car and I'll be down in a minute." Wynonna left and Waverly looked at Nicole with a look of disbelief on her face. "I can't believe you are taking her side over mine. I thought I meant something to you and we..." Her voice trailed off and Nicole could see tears in her eyes.

She reached out and cupped Waverly's face in her hands, "This isn't about taking sides Wave. I love you and I never want you to doubt my feelings for you. But I took one look at her and could tell that whatever she needs is important. Believe me, if I didn't think it was true I would have kicked her out of here and continued what we started. Do you think I want you to go? God Waverly, this is killing me. I love you." She bent down and kissed her gently before leaning her forehead onto Waverly's . "Will you call me later? I don't care how late it is, I just want to hear your voice before I go to sleep."

Waverly nodded and kissed Nicole on her forehead before heading out the door.

Nicole watched her go and had to fight the urge to call Waverly back to her. Sighing she lay down on her bed, suddenly feeling empty inside. The only person who could fill this emptiness was the person who had just been pulled from her side, the person who carried her heart with her, Waverly.

As Nicole drifted off to sleep that night she could still feel Waverly's lips pressed against her own, she was so wrapped up in the feeling that it didn't even occur to her that Waverly hadn't called.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bad thing about secrets is that they seem to always come out, even if you aren't ready to hear them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a bit of domestic violence.

Two days had passed and Waverly hadn't called her, she wasn't answering her phone either. No one had seen or heard from Wynonna either and the Black Badge office was strangely empty and quiet. Nicole decided that after work she would go out to the Earp homestead and find out exactly what was going on with Waverly. It wasn't like her not to call and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was very wrong. She decided that she wasn't going to wait until after work, she was going to go out there right now. She pushed herself back from her desk and stood up, grabbing her utility belt and putting it on before walking towards the rack where her hat was currently located.

Nedley opened his office door and peeked his head out, "Nicole I need you to head out to the Earp homestead, someone phoned in that there was a shooting."

Nicole's head snapped around towards him, "A shooting? Who? Is everyone ok? What happened?"

Nedley ran his fingers through his hair, "I don't know, but I need you to be careful, I don't have all the details and Dolls isn't giving up any information to me."

"I'm on my way." She almost ran out of the office, grabbing her hat on the way out and jumping into her cruiser. She exceeded the speed limit as she quickly drove to the Earp homestead, a million thoughts racing through her head. Waverly had to be ok, she just had to be. She got there in time to see several bodies being loaded into Coroner's vans.  
She stopped the car and stared over at the house, it looked like a war zone. The front of the house was riddled by bullet holes and the front door was hanging open. None of the windows had any glass left in them and Nicole feared the worst as she took it all in. Getting out of her cruiser she practically sprinted towards the front door. Reaching out with her hand she went to knock but jumped as she was met by a tall woman who resembled Wynonna, Nicole didn't recogonize her and she opened her mouth to speak. The woman gave her a harsh look and blocked the door so Nicole couldn't enter. "Can I help you officer?"

"What happened here? Where's Waverly and Wynonna?" She looked past the woman and could see Waverly lying on the floor with a bloody cloth pressed against her side." Panic rose within her at the sight of the woman she loved appearing to be injured, "Oh my God, Waverly!" She tried to enter the house but the woman was standing in the way. "Get out of the way! Move, before I move you, damn it!" She pushed past her and rushed to Waverly's side, kneeling down beside her and taking her hand.

Waverly looked up at Nicole and she could see her pain written on the brunette's face, "I got a little shot."

"You got a little shot? How the hell did this happen?" Nicole looked up at Wynonna, "Why the hell isn't she on her way to the hospital? She's hurt and bleeding! Someobody better tell me what happend here before I force it out of you." 

Wynonna gave her a look that said she was both shocked and impressed by Nicole's outburst, "Calm down Red, the bullet grazed her, it's not like she's gonna die from it."

Nicole shot her a look, an angry look, she could have cut glass with it. Nicole stood up and took two steps towards Wynonna, who's eyes widened with surprise. Someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from the other woman. 

Nicole struggled against the arms that were currently restraining her, "Officer Haught calm down, this isn't helping."

Nicole freed herself and spun around to face Dolls. "Keep your hands off of me. I..."

He held up his hands and spoke, "Come with me outside and I'll explain what happened." He gave her a look of understanding before continuing, "Give me ten minutes, she'll be okay, I promise."

She followed him outside and he gave her a rundown of the events that had happened earlier in the day. From what she gathered a group of men had attacked the homestead and the Earp girls had defended their home, killing a couple of the attackers but not before Waverly had been hit. It was all the information he could give her and Nicole nodded before heading back inside. 

Waverly was sitting at the table and Wynonna was tending her wound, which looked pretty ugly. She asked Wynonna if it would scar to which she replied that it was okay because dudes dig scars. Waverly looked at her and asked, "Do Chicks?" Wynonna gave her sister a strange look before looking up to find a less than amused Nicole standing over them.  
The woman from earlier approached her and thanked her for coming to help but they could take it from there. Nicole looked at her with a raised eyebrow and informed her that she wasn't leaving until she was assured that Waverly was going to be okay.

The woman cocked an eyebrow and glared over at Nicole, "Wynonna and I will take good care of her."

Nicole looked at her for a moment, returning her glare, "I'm sorry I didn't quite catch your name."

"Willa."

Nicole's mouth dropped open and she looked over at Wynonna, seeking the truth.

"Yeah, she's our sister. It's a long story and I'm tired." She stood up and dropped her voice, "I'll explain later okay?"

Nicole nodded and her expression softened as she looked at Waverly, "I'd like to take you to the hospital, that could get infected."

Waverly gave her a sweet smile and held her hand out towards Nicole. She helped Waverly to her feet and wrapped her arm around her waist. The two of them walked outside and made their way towards Nicole's police cruiser. Opening the door to the car she tenderly helped her into the patrol car, making sure Waverly was comfortable before closing the door. She looked up to find Wynonna standing there, her anger towards the other woman hadn't quite gone away and she pointed at Wynonna as she said, "I don't completely understand what happened here today but when I come back you are going to explain it to me. I don't give a crap what Dolls says about it, do you understand?" 

Wynonna could tell that she was serious, and held up her hands, "I never wanted her to get hurt and Dolls told her to take cover but she's stubborn, you have to believe me."  
Nicole huffed out a breath at this, "And she's the one who got hurt. This can't happen again Earp, she's your baby sister and despite what she says you need to protect her and if you can't I will. I mean it Wynonna."

She walked around the car and got in, reaching over she took Waverly's hand, not saying a word as she started the car and drove towards town. When they were out of sight of the homestead she pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned towards Waverly. "When you didn't call me I feared the worst and then today that fear was confirmed. If we are going to be together then I need you to tell me what you and your family are mixed up in. If you don't trust me enough to tell me then this isn't going to work. I love you but it takes trust to make a relationship work." She paused for a moment, "When I saw you on the floor bleeding, I..." Her voice sputtered as she suddenly burst into tears.

Waverly's eyes widened at Nicole's declaration and she reached across the center console holding Nicole the best she could while she sobbed. "It's okay, baby I'm okay." She dropped a kiss onto the top of her head. "I'm okay." Nicole looked up at Waverly who had an expression of utter adoration on her face. "Nicole, I love you, I think I've loved you forever, I just didn't know it." She moved to kiss Nicole but flinched as she agravated her wound. "Can we go now? " Waverly moved back over to her own side of the car and brought her hand up to her side a look of pain on her face.

Nicole nodded and wiped her eyes, she reached out and took Waverly's hand bringing it to her lips and kising the back of it. She held onto her hand and wouldn't let go until the doctor in the emergency room told her she would have to let go so he could examine the wound. He tried to tell her that she would have to wait outside of the room but one look from Nicole changed his mind and he let her stay. The wound was ugly and it would scar but Nicole didn't care, Waverly would always be beautiful to her, no matter what.  
The doctors told her to keep the wound clean and dry and to use antibiotic on it to ensure that it wouldn't get infected. Nicole thanked them and they left the hospital. 

Waverly looked over at Nicole who was deep in thought. She took her hand and gave it a small squeeze to get her attention, it worked. "Nicole, do you think I can stay with you tonight?"

Nicole smiled at her, "Of course, I'll send Wynonna a message and let her know. And Wave, you never have to ask."

They arrived at Nicole's apartment apartment building and walked up the stairs. When they got inside the apartment Nicole gave Waverly a t-shirt to sleep in and while she was in the bathroom changing Nicole fed her cat before getting ready for bed herself. She turned off the lights, made sure that the door was locked and climbed into bed. Waverly came out of the bathroom and Nicole lifted the covers for her so she could get into bed. Waverly climbed in and Nicole covered her up before pulling her close against her body. She wrapped her arm around her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Waverly lay with her head on Nicole's shoulder and they drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other's arms.

 

*****

 

Nicole awoke the next morning wondering if it had been a dream. She could feel the weight of someone pressed up against her side and she slowly opened her eyes. Waverly lay with her head on Nicole's shoulder and her arm and leg thrown across her body. She looked over at the clock and could see it was still early, she didn't need to get up for a couple of more hours for work so she lay there and watched her sleep. Her arm was going numb but she didn't care, Waverly looked like an angel and she didn't want to wake her. 

She had a lot to process, so much had happened the previous day and she was still in the dark about most of the events that had led to Waverly being shot. Wynonna had been so casual about it and Nicole had wanted to wring her neck. If Dolls hadn't pulled her away she was sure that she would have done something that she would have regretted later. 

When Waverly began to kiss her neck she snapped out of her thoughts. Wrapping her arm tighter around Waverly she sighed and dropped a kiss onto the brunette's forehead. "Good morning, how are you feeling?"

"I'm good, other than my side hurting like a..."

"Well that's what happens when you get shot, it stings a bit." She dropped a kiss on the top of Waverly's head before moving to get out of bed. She was brought back towards Waverly as an arm tightened around her, "Wave, If you don't let me up I can't clean your wound."

"I don't want you to get up yet, not until you kiss me."

"Is that the price of my freedom? I think I can handle that." She bent down and pressed her lips to Waverly's. 

Waverly's hand came up and tenderly cupped her face. At the touch of her hand Nicole intensified the kiss.

Waverly's hands seemed to be everywhere and before Nicole knew what was happening Waverly was starting to tug her shirt upwards. Nicole pulled back for a second, "Wave...hold on for a second."

Waverly looked confused, "What's wrong, don't you want to?"

"I, I don't want to hurt you."

Waverly looked at her, "You won't." She moved closer to Nicole and said softly, "I want to know what it's like..."

Nicole pulled her tightly into her body and began to kiss her again, she rolled over on top of Waverly and was careful not to put all her weight onto her body, Waverly gasped as Nicole began to kiss her neck. 

The sound of Nicole's cellphone ringing startled them apart. She groaned out loud and reached over to grab it and Waverly said, "I swear if that's Wynonna..."

Nicole ended the call and looked at Waverly, "That was work, I'm so sorry but I gotta go. There's an emergency situation and I need to get there as soon as possible." She placed a soft kiss onto Waverly's lips, "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want." She got out of bed and quickly got dressed not minding that Waverly's eyes never left her. She didn't want to leave but she had no choice. 

Waverly got out of the bed and stood next to it as Nicole finished getting dressed. Worry began to build inside of her and she walked over to Nicole. As she put her in her arms around Nicole's waist she buried her face into Nicole's chest. 

Nicole returned her embrace, "I'll call you when I can and Wave, I love you."

"Be careful, and come back to me." She looked into Nicole's eyes, "I love you too." 

Nicole kissed her and as she left turned and smiled at Waverly giving her a little wink before closing the door behind her.

 

*****

 

The emergency situation had been nothing more than a car accident involving a couple of drunk drivers. Nicole finished clearing the scene and returned to the station in time for lunch. She decided to head home to spend her lunch hour with Waverly and even though she lived close to the station she decided to drive so that she could get home quicker.  
As she drove down her street she could see two people on the sidewalk, it appeared as if they were involved in some kind of arguement. As she drove closer to the pair she realized that one of the people looked like Waverly. When she realized who the other person was she sped up the car before coming to a screeching halt in front of them. Champ Hardy was outside of her building and was threatening Waverly and Nicole wasn't about to let him hurt her.

She arrived just in time to see Waverly push Champ away, he regained his footing then reached out and slapped her across the face. That's when Nicole saw red, the bastard actually put his hands on Waverly, struck her even and he wasn't going to get away with it.

Nicole hopped out of her car and ran towards him at top speed without stopping, she lowered her shoulder hitting him square in the back, effectively knocking him to the ground. She was pretty sure that she heard him call her a bitch before she punched him in the side of the face and quickly handcuffed him. She dug her knee into his back and radioed for backup before looking up at Waverly. She had a handprint on her cheek that was beginning to darken and Nicole knew that it would leave an awful bruise. Seeing the mark on Waverly's beautiful face angered Nicole some more and without thinking she raised her hand to hit him again. "You son of a bitch! How dare you..."

"Nicole, don't!" Waverly's voice was the only thing that stopped her. Instead of hitting him she bent down and said to him, "If you ever touch her again I'll kill you."

"What the hell's going on here?" Nicole looked up to see Wynonna standing there.

"I got here just in time to see this jackass hit waverly." She dug her knee harder into his back, "Look at her face."

Wynonna stepped closer to her sister and reached out, turning her face to inspect the mark on her cheek. Her face darkened as she asked, "Are you okay?"

Waverly smiled down at Nicole, "I am, thanks to Nicole."

Nicole looked down the street, "Where's my backup? I called them awhile ago."

Wynonna smirked at her, "Yeah well, I heard the call and came to help."

"Good, you can help me take this piece of crap to the station."

They pulled him to his feet before dragging him to the car and putting him into the back. Nicole slammed the door and walked over to Waverly, she examined her face and seeing the darkening mark on it the anger washed over her face again. 

Waverly reached up and cupped her face, looking directly into Nicole's eyes, "Hey, I'm okay, I need you to calm down." When Nicole's expression softened Waverly breathed a sigh of relief. "I was going to bring you lunch but he made me drop it." She looked down at the ground at the food that was strewn all over the sidewalk.

Nicole ran her thumb along Waverly's jaw, " I was coming to check on you. What was he doing here?"

"He tracked me down and said he wanted to get back together. I told him to get lost and I wasn't interested."

"And he didn't take the news well. Waves, are you sure you're okay?" Nicole asked Waverly, her tone conveying her concern.

Waverly looked up at her, "I am now that you're here." She looked over at the car before her gaze returned to Nicole, " You need to go, I wish you didn't but I know that you do."  
"Will you be here when I get back?"

"I"m going to go home for a bit, come see me later?"

"Of course I will." She glanced over her shoulder making sure that Wynonna wasn't watching them and she dropped a small kiss onto Waverly's forehead before turning to go.  
Nicole got into the car and looked over at Wynonna in the passenger seat. "She's a strong woman, stronger than she realizes."

Wynonna gave her a questioning look, "What's going on between you and my sister? I thought you were going to rip my head off last night and that beat down you just gave Champ. I didn't know you had it in you Red, I'm impressed."

It amazed Nicole that Wynonna was still so oblivious about certain things, especially when it came to Waverly, "You should really talk to Waverly about it." She started the car and they drove to the station without saying much more.

 

*****

 

A few hours later, Nicole changed into her street clothes and slammed her locker before storming out of the station. She burst through the front door and almost collided with Wynonna on the sidewalk in front of the station. "Whoa there Red, where's the fire?"

Nicole didn't look amused by Wynonna's question, "Not now Earp, I've had an extremely shitty day. I've been suspended because of what happened earlier."

What? You stopped Waves from being assaulted by that asshat and you got into trouble?"

"The sheriff thought I used excessive force when arresting him so now I'm suspended for the next week. I'm going home, I need a drink." She took a couple of steps before asking over her shoulder, "You coming?"

"You know it." Wynonna rushed after her as they headed towards Shorty's.

As the evening progressed and Nicole got more and more drunk she forgot all about her promise to meet Waverly at the homestead.

 

*****

 

The next morning, Nicole woke up to an unexpected sight, "God Wynonna, get your damn boots out of my face." She reached over and pushed on her feet a little too hard and she watched as the other woman went sprawling off of the bed.

"What the hell Nicole." She sat up and gave her a dirty look. "So rude!"

Nicole's head felt heavy and a felling of disappointment washed over her because Wynonna wasn't the Earp she wanted to wake up next to, she sighed before asking, "What the hell happened last night?"

Wynonna shrugged, "You drank all of my booze Red."

"Don't you mean my booze Earp? And I'm sure you were more than happy to help me with that."

"Well, duh."

"It's nice to see that you two have bonded." Wynonna and Nicole looked over at the couch in unison and Nicole's face turned white when she saw Waverly sitting there.  
Wynonna found her voice first, "Hey sis, we were just..."

"Sleeping it off, yeah I can see that." She looked over at Nicole, "When I didn't hear from either of you last night I got worried. I went looking for you at the station this morning and I heard what happened." Her expression softened, "I'm so sorry this happened to you Nicole."

Nicole stood up and immediately regretted it, she had to brace herself until the room righted itself again. Waverly brought her a glass of water, "Drink this, you're gonna need it." She placed some asprin into her palm, "Take these too."

Nicole swallowed the pills and drank the entire glass of water. Despite the shooting pain in her head she managed to give Waverly a tiny grin, "I'm sorry I didn't call, and you have nothing to apologize about. I don't have any regrets about what I did."

"Do you want me to talk to Nedley and straighten this out?"

Nicole shook her head, "Won't do any good, Champ's dad is on the city council."

Waverly's face fell, "This is all my fault."

Nicole reached out and grabbed Waverly's arms, "Hey, don't you dare blame yourself! It wasn't your fault, you didn't ask for him to hit you did you? No, so I don't want to hear that again, understand?" She pulled Waverly into a hug and whispered into her ear, "I love you."

Wynonna watched this exchange and raised an eyebrow, "The way you two are acting I would swear that you are..." They turned towards her and a look of dawning washed over her face, "Um, girlfriends? Baby girl, you want to explain this to me because I'm having a hard time understanding."

Nicole looked down at Waverly who was looking at the floor. She gave her hand a little squeeze and Waverly looked up at her. For the first time Nicole could see fear in her eyes and she gripped her hand a little tighter before whispering, "It's going to be okay."

Waverly finally looked over at her sister, took a deep breath and said, "It's true, she's my girlfriend. I love her."

"You're happy?"

Waverly looked up at Nicole, "Yes, more than I've ever been."

"That's all that matters, I'm happy for you." She turned towards Nicole, "And Red, I like you but if you hurt her, I hurt you, understand."

Nicole grinned at her, "I wouldn't dream of it."

 

*****

 

If there was a positive about being suspended from work, it was that Nicole got to spend every day with Waverly. After Champ Hardy's assault of Waverly, Wynonna had insisted that her sister stay at the homestead and not at Nicoles apartment for the time being. She was worried that if Nicole wasn't home then Champ Hardy might try something stupid again.

During that week the two of them were rarely apart and unfortunately they were finding it increasingly difficult to shake Wynonna. Everytime they turned around she was there, asking them questions about their relationship and making off color jokes much to Waverly's increasing embarassment which in turn irritated an already frustrated Nicole. 

Willa on the other hand was a different story. Nicole caught her on numerous occasions watching them with looks of disgust on her face. It was obvious to everyone that Willa did not approve of them being together and she would sneer whenever they showed each other any affection. Nicole tried to ignore her but it was becoming increasingly difficult because it appeared as if the woman had absoultely no intention of accepting their relationship and supporting her sister. 

From what Waverly told her, Willa had bullied her when they were kids, making her do dangerous things and blaming her whenever Willa had done something bad. Waverly recalled that Willa had tried to drown her when she was very young by making her retrieve her stuffed rabbit from on top of the frozen river. Willa had thrown Waverly's favorite stuffed animal out onto the ice knowing that Waverly loved that thing more than anything else in the world and had stood there and grinned when Waverly fell through the ice. Instead of helping her her sister get out of the frozen water her sister had turned and walked away. Willa even blamed her for their mother leaving when Waverly was only four years old. The more Nicole was around Willa the greater her dislike of the older woman grew. The only reason she was even civil to her was out of respect to Waverly who obviously loved her sister, despite the things she had done to her in the past.

It was to Nicole's immense relief that Willa and Wynonna left to get supplies one afternoon. The two of them being gone meant that she got to have some much needed alone time with Waverly. They were in the barn together laying on a pile of fresh hay, Waverly had her head on Nicole's shoulder and they talked about alot of different things, actually Waverly did most of the talking and Nicole just lay there and smiled, listening to her rambling on and on about whatever popped into her brain. 

Waverly lifted her head and looked down at Nicole, "You're awfully quiet today Nicole, is something the matter?"

Nicole shook her head, "No, not at all. I was just thinking."

Waverly gave her a questioning look, "About?"

"I'd like to take you away for a couple of days. I don't have to be back to work yet and I think this would be the perfect time to take a little vacation. What do you think?"

Waverly reached out and ran her hand along Nicole's chest and dropped her gaze for a moment, "I'd love to , what did you have in mind?" Her eyes raised to meet Nicole's, they were full of promise.

"My parents own a cabin, it's pretty secluded and they said I could use it whenever I wanted." She returned Waverly's stare, "How does that sound? A couple of days all alone in the middle of nowhere, just the two of us."

Waverly leaned over and kissed Nicole, "Sounds like heaven." She said before dropping another kiss on Nicole's lips, the sound of someone clearing their throat had Waverly pulling back. They looked up to find Willa standing over them with a familiar look of disgust on her face. 

"Do you have to do that here?" She rolled her eyes, "I mean really, not everyone wants to see you two making out all the time."

Nicole looked at Waverly who was looking at the ground and sighed, if Waverly wouldn't stand up to her big sister she would. Climbing to her feet she got into Willa's face and said, "What is your problem Willa? Don't you want your sister to be happy?"

"I do, but I think she's confused and under your influence. Come on Waverly how can you possibly be happy with another woman? I think the whole thing is disgusting."

Nicole was struggling to control her rising anger, taking a deep breath she said, "I think what's disgusting is the way you treat your baby sister. How dare you..."

"Like I care what some ginger butch cop thinks about me."

Waverly stood up and Nicole could see the anger in her eyes, "That's enough Willa! Say what you want to me but I'm not going to stand here and let you insult the person that I love!" She took a step closer to Willa, reaching out and poking her in the chest as she said, "I took a lot of shit from you when we were kids and I'll be damned if I'm taking any more, you got that?"

Wynonna walked into the barn just in time to see Willa slap Waverly's hand away. She hurried over to where they were standing and took in the angry looks on all three of their faces. "What's going on in here, I heard shouting. Are you ok baby girl?"

Willa crossed her arms and huffed out a sharp breath, "Sure take her side as always, Wynonna to the rescue when it comes to the baby."

A brief look of hurt crossed Wynonna's face at Willa's words but she quickly pushed it down inside, "Well somebody had to take care of her because Daddy never did."

"And who's fault is that Wynonna? Everything was fine until she came along, why don't you tell Waverly why Momma really left?"

"Willa, shut up!" Wynonna turned towards Nicole, "Why don't you take her to your place, get her out of here."

Nicole nodded and they began to leave.

Willa wasn't done, "Tell her Wynonna or I will."

The hurt look returned to Wynonna's face, "Don't do this."

Willa smirked over at Nicole and Waverly, "Don't leave ladies I'm just getting to the best part."

Waverly stopped by the door and turned around, clearly fed up, "So, what is it Willa, what is this deep dark secret you've been keeping all this time?" She took a step towards Willa, hands raised, "Why don't you just say it already, I can tell you're dying to tell me so, come on Willa!"

Wynonna looked at her younger sister with tears in her eyes, "Waves, just leave, please."

Waverly's tone softened, "Is it that bad?" Wynonna's tearful gaze made her pause, "Nonna?"

Willa laughed, "For you it is but for us, not so much." She gestured back and forth between herself and Wynonna, "Daddy told me one time that the reason momma left is because he found out that you weren't his daughter. He threw her out because he couldn't look at her anymore." Her face betrayed her absolute joy at telling Waverly about this and how the news crushed her baby sister.

Waverly looked stunned, "What?" She looked over at Wynonna, "Is it true?"

Wynonna wouldn't look at Waverly, "According to Willa, she told me before she disappeared, but I didn't believe it." She looked up to find a shattered look on Waverly's face, "Waves, daddy was a drunk and he said things sometimes, you're too young to remember." 

At first Nicole didn't know what to say but when Waverly burst into tears and turned her face into Nicole's chest she looked up at Willa, anger washing over her, "Why would you tell her something like this? I don't understand how you can be such a giant bitch to her."

"None of this is your business, it involves my family and you can leave." She said as she gestured towards the door to the barn.

Nicole was struggling to keep her anger under control and she answered Willa in a low steady tone that was laced with undertones of the rage she was feeling, "When it comes to Waverly it's 100% my business and I'm not leaving until she asks me to."

Wynonna was standing there looking at her younger sister. Waverly looked over at her for a moment and said, "You knew, why didn't you tell me?"

Wynonna flinched as a look of hurt and betrayal washed over Waverly's face, "Waves I'm so sorry, I didn't tell you because I still don't believe it's true."

Waverly looked up at Nicole and whispered, "Can we leave now, I don't want to be here anymore."

Nicole nodded and they left the barn. Waverly got into her jeep and sat there looking dejectedly at the floorboard while Nicole went into the house and packed a suitcase full of Waverly's clothes. Nicole looked up to find Wynonna standing in the doorway watching her, Nicole could tell that she had been crying.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why she did that. Even if it's true, she's still my baby girl and it doesn't matter to me. Will you tell her that for me?"

"Of course, but you need to give her time."

Wynonna wiped her eyes and stepped forward, she raised her arms and Nicole gave her a hug. "Take care of her okay?"

"I will, I promise." Nicole let her go and walked out of the room. Willa was sitting at the table with a smug smirk on her face. Nicole walked by her without saying a word, she wouldn't give her the satisfaction. She left the house and loaded the suitcase into the back of the Jeep before getting into the driver's side. Before starting the car she turned to Waverly and took her hand, "Wave?" 

Waverly wouldn't look at her, she just sat there looking down at the floor of the Jeep. She looked like a lost little girl and it broke Nicole's heart to see her this way, "I can't begin to understand what you are feeling right now, I'm here for you and I love you. You can stay with me for as long as you need, my home is your home, okay?" She gave Waverly's hand a small squeeze before asking, Are you ready to go?"

Waverly gave her the tiniest of nods and Nicole started the car. As she drove home she kept looking over at Waverly who just sat there staring out of the window. They stopped in front of Nicole's building and she got Waverly's suitcase out of the back before coming around and opening the car door for her. 

 

*****

 

Nicole opened the door to her apartment and followed Waverly inside. Waverly walked over to the bed and lay down in a tiny little ball and Nicole could hear her crying. Nicole locked the door before making her way over to the bed, she climbed onto it and lay behind Waverly, wrapping her in her arms, holding her tight. 

As she held Waverly she thought about how things had changed so quickly and they had Willa to thank for it. They had been so happy making plans for their trip then hurricane Willa had destroyed it with one nasty comment. It didn't matter to Nicole about Waverly's parentage she loved her no matter what. The crying stopped and she looked down to find Waverly fast asleep. She watched her sleep, running her hands through Waverly's hair and it wasn't long before she found herself joining her.

Nicole stirred, fighting back the sleep. She could feel two lips placing soft kisses along her neck as hands wandered across her body, seeming to touch her everywhere. It felt good and she didn't want to wake up but wake up she did when she felt those hands begining to remove her shirt. Her eyes popped open to find Waverly pressed against her side kissing her neck. 

When Waverly saw that she had woken up she moved upward and captured Nicole's mouth with her own. The kiss was intense and Nicole groaned as ripples of desire began to build from deep within her. Nicole's arms came up and she wrapped them around Waverly pulling her on top of her body. Her hands moved down and grasped the bottom of Waverly's shirt quckly pulling it over her head and off her body. Waverly shivered as Nicole's fingers traced a path down her spine. A small part of her knew that with everything that had happened earlier that day they probably shouldn't be doing this but another bigger part of her knew that this is what Waverly needed. But she needed to know that this is what Waverly really wanted, "Waverly, are you sure? I don't want you to do something you're not ready for."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life Nicole." She reached out and traced a finger along Nicole's lips before recapturing them with her own.

Nicole's hands came up Waverly's sides and Waverly groaned against Nicole's mouth as she brushed the sides of her breasts. Nicole tightened her grip and rolled over on top of her being careful not to break their kiss. She pulled away for a moment and stared down at Waverly who looked up at Nicole, "Please Nicole, I need you."

Nicole ran her fingers softly through Waverly's hair, "I know baby." She dropped a soft kiss onto her forehead before uttering, "God, you are so beautiful." 

Waverly gasped and reached up, weaving her hands through Nicole's hair before pulling her head down to capture her lips once again. 

Nicole rose up onto her knees and pulled her shirt over her head before reaching behind her and unfastening her bra as Waverly's hands reached out to unbuckle her belt.

Nicole gasped and all she knew at that moment is that she wanted to feel Waverly's skin pressed up against her own, she wanted to feel and touch every part of Waverly's body and she shook with anticipation as she thought about what it would feel like to feel Waverly come undone beneath her.

It wasn't long before all of their clothes were gone and Nicole was lowering her weight slowly onto Waverly's body, the delicious feel of Waverly's bare flesh sending waves of heat throughout her own body. Nicole traced a finger along Waverly's jawline, "You are so beautiful Waves." 

Waverly shivered, looked up into Nicole's eyes and softly whispered, "Make love to me Nicole."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't hate Willa before I'm sure you probably hate her now.
> 
> Thanks for reading and leaving comments and kudos


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waverly and Nicole get closer than ever before as they reach a turning point in their relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May not be suitable for work

Nicole reached up and cupped Waverly's face within her hands as her head surged down so that she could capture Waverly's lips with her own. She had dreamed of this moment for so long and now that it was here she couldn't wait to make Waverly completely her's. And, on top of that she was lost in the anticipation of becoming Waverly's, body and soul.  
Waverly whimpered as Nicole pulled her lips away but her whimpers quickly turned to moans as Nicole began to suck on her pulse point. The brunette wrapped her fingers within Nicole's hair and her breath caught in her throat as Nicole trailed kisses down towards her chest before pulling one of her ever hardening nipples into her mouth. As Nicole sucked her nipple and grazed it with her teeth she pulled her head tighter against her breast. "Oh God Nicole, that feels so good."

Nicole reached over with her hand and began to tweak her other nipple as she continued to lavish the first nipple with her tongue. Raising her head she moved her head until her tongue and mouth were replacing the hand that was giving so much attention to her nipple. 

The heat building between Waverly's legs was becoming unbearable and she knew that the only thing that could quench the fire was Nicole's touch. "Baby, I need you."

Nicole pulled away, "I'm right here Wave, I got you." She leaned up to place a soft kiss on her lips, "Tell me what you need."

Waverly released a trembling breath, "I...I need you to touch me Nicole. I want you, God I'm on fire." She grasped Nicole's hand and trailed it down her body and between her legs and Nicole gasped as she felt how hot and wet Waverly was.

Nicole's breath caught as she trailed her fingers through that heat and Waverly whimpered as Nicole kissed her. Running her tongue along Waverly's lips until the brunette opened to allow Nicole the access that she sought. As she traced the insides of Waverly's mouth with her tongue Nicole's finger began to circle Waverly's clit.

Waverly was moaning and panting against Nicole's lips, "I can't take much more, I need you."

Nicole flicked her tongue against Waverly's top lip, "Where do you need me?"

"Baby please I need you inside me, please Nicole."

Nicole kissed her hard and as she slid her tongue inside the warm confines of Waverly's mouth again she brought her finger to Waverly's entrance, pausing briefly before thrusting inside and causing Waverly to cry out as she buried her finger to the knuckle. Nicole remained still for a moment reveling in the silky heat that currently surrounded the digit buried deep inside of the brunette.

"I love you Wave," Nicole breathed against Waverly's lips and before Waverly could answer she began to withdraw her finger only to push it back inside, causing Waverly to squeal in delight as Nicole settled into a steady rhythm. "You feel so good Waves, I've wanted this for so long."

Waverly ran her hands down Nicole's back, digging her nails in as Nicole added another finger. "Oh shit, shit! Don't stop Nicole I'm going to come!" She could feel the familiar tightening in her belly and she tensed up as she let go. Waverly had never felt this level of connection with anyone before and as she came undone and an intense wave of pleasure washed over her she clung to Nicole as the tears began to flow.

Nicole stroked her hair and held her close, placing soft kisses on Waverly's face. "It's okay baby, I've got you." 

Waverly buried her face into Nicole's neck, "I'm sorry Nicole, I don't usually get this emotional, it's just that I...I love you so much." She pulled back and looked up into Nicole's sweet face. "I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Nicole's heart melted and she leaned down to kiss Waverly softly on the mouth, "I've never loved anyone the way I love you Waves. I'm so in love with you." She kissed Waverly again and the next thing she knew the breath left her lungs as Waverly flipped her onto her back. 

"You are huh?" Before she could answer Waverly was kissing her. Pulling back she looked down into Nicole's soft brown eyes, "I want to make you feel as good as you just made me. I want to touch you Nicole, can I?"

Nicole nodded, "I want you more than anything Wave but we don't have to do anything you aren't comfortable with, I know you've never done this before and I..."

Waverly placed a finger against Nicole's lips, "I've done a little research but I want you to tell me if you don't like something I'm doing okay?"

Nicole nodded as Waverly ran her finger along her bottom lip. She opened her mouth and drew Waverly's finger inside, sucking on it and running her tongue along the tip. It was the single most erotic thing Waverly had ever experienced and she could feel her arousal building once again between her legs.

Waverly began to explore Nicole's body with her hands, lips and tongue, she seemed to be everywhere at once and Nicole was on fire. As much as Nicole longed to grab Waverly's hand and guide it down towards the source of all of her desire she didn't want to rush her, she wanted Waverly's first time touching a woman to go at her pace. She could feel her frustration building at Waverly's slow exploration and she knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. The truth of the matter is that if Waverly didn't touch her soon where she needed her to she would burst.

"Way...Waverly." Nicole whimpered as the brunette continued to tease her. "Please."

Waverly trailed her tongue back up and flicked Nicole's earlobe before pulling it into her mouth and nibbling softly on it. "What do you need Nicole? Tell me." 

"I need you to touch me." 

Waverly breathed into "Where do you need me to touch you?" 

Nicole began to pant, "Lower."

Waverly trailed her hand down, stopping between Nicole's breasts, "Here?"

Nicole began to pant harder, "Lower."

She trailed her hand down and traced Nicole's abs, "Here?"

Nicole's breath hitched, "Please Wave, I can't take much more...I" Her voice trailed off into a moan as Waverly ran her finger along her folds.

"God Nicole, you're so wet."

"All for you baby, all for you."

As Waverly explored the intimate parts of Nicole's body she looked up at the redhead's face and watched in wonder at the expressions and faces she made as Waverly touched certain areas. As Waverly circled Nicole's clit with her finger she saw Nicole tightly close her eyes and throw her head back into the pillows. When she finally entered Nicole she felt like she was home and it wasn't long before an immensely aroused Nicole was coming undone beneath her and screaming out her name.

Nicole struggled to catch her breath and whimpered as Waverly slowly removed her fingers from inside her body. She opened her eyes to find a pair of concerned hazel ones staring down at her. "Jesus, Waverly that was amazing."

Waverly gave her a shy grin, "Really?"

Nicole reached up and ran her fingers along the side of Waverly's face, "Really. I've never had an orgasm that intense before and I think it was because it was you giving it to me." She shook her head as she continued to look at Waverly, "No, I know that's why. I love you so much Waverly and I'm so lucky that you chose me."

Waverly could feel tears forming in her eyes and as she leaned in to kiss Nicole they began to fall, her love for this woman in her arms overwhelming her. "I'm the one who's lucky, the day you ran into me and spilled your coffee all over me was the greatest day of my life, because it's the day I met you."

Nicole wrapped her arms tighter around Waverly and pulled her into to her body. Burying her face into Waverly's hair she inhaled deeply before placing a soft kiss onto the top of her head. "I love you Waves."

Waverly could feel herself starting to drift off to sleep, "Mmmm, love you too Nic." She snuggled closer into Nicole's body and fell to sleep safe within Nicole's arms.

 

*****

 

Nicole woke up to the sound of sobbing. Waverly lay next to her in a tiny ball, she had tears flowing freely from her eyes while she sobbed uncontrollably. Nicole reached over and wrapped her arm around Waverly, pulling her into her body. "Waves, baby shhh," Nicole began to rock her in her arms. Nicole didn't need to ask her what was wrong, she already knew. Waverly's whole world had been turned upside down and her grief at losing her identity was overwhelming her.

She wasn't sure how long they remained like that, Waverly in her arms, clinging to Nicole and sobbing into her chest but it didn't matter to Nicole. She would hold Waverly as long as she needed her to, she would be there for Waverly no matter what. She sat and ran her fingers through Waverly's hair while placing soft kisses to the top of her head and whispering soothing words.

Waverly's sobs slowed but she still stayed wrapped within Nicole's safe embrace and when she was all cried out she remained there. "It's okay Waves, everything's going to be okay. I'm here, you aren't alone and I'm not going anywhere." 

Nicole's words soothed Waverly and she finally relaxed into Nicole's body. She pulled slowly pulled away and looked down at the bed, refusing to look into Nicole's eyes, "I'm sorry Nicole, I don't know what..."

Nicole placed a finger underneath Waverly's chin and raised her head so that she could look her in the eye, "You've got nothing to apologize for Wave, do you hear me? So if you need to cry then you cry and I don't want to hear you say you're sorry. Whatever you need and whatever you want to do I'll support you. I meant it when I said I wasn't going anywhere."

Waverly stared back at Nicole and looked deeply into her eyes. She could tell just by looking that Nicole was telling the truth and she could see nothing but love and devotion looking back at her. At that moment she fell even deeper in love with the red haired woman before her. Reaching out Waverly tucked a stray strand of hair behind Nicole's ear and she softly ran the back of her hand down the side of Nicole's face, "I love you Nicole, more than I ever thought possible."

Leaning in, Nicole kissed her softly on the lips pulling back as her stomach rumbled loudly in the quiet of the room. "How about I make some breakfast? I don't know about you but I'm starving." At Waverly's nod she got up out of bed and threw on some clothes as she made her way towards the kitchen area.

As Nicole prepared their meal Waverly lay in bed with her head propped on her arm, watching her work. She never thought she could feel about anyone the way she felt about Nicole. As she watched the redhead move naturally around her tiny kitchen Waverly knew that she had found the person she was meant to be with.

 

*****

 

Nicole walked down the aisle of the market she needed one more item on her list and then she could head home. She turned the corner and walked down the aisle making a beeline towards the bottle of wine that would go perfect with dinner. Nicole was so intent on her task that she didn't notice the woman standing in front of her until she had run into her. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry..." Her voice trailed off as she saw who she had run into. "Wynonna."

Wynonna gave her a tiny smile, "Hey Red."

Nicole reached past her and grabbed the bottle she was searching for and placed it into her basket. She noticed that Wynonna was still standing there, "Look, I know that you're worried about Waverly but you don't need to be, she's fine. She's dealing with this as best as she can and when she's ready she'll see you, okay?" Nicole reached out and squeezed Wynonna's arm, "She's not ready."

Wynonna crossed her arms and hugged herself around the waist, "Will you tell her love her and I'm so sorry for keeping this from her?"

"Wynonna...." Nicole sighed, "I'll tell her but believe me when I tell you she needs time. She's had a huge shock, her whole world has been turned upside down."

Nicole turned to leave but she paused as Wynonna said, "I'm glad she has you."

"Thanks. And for What's it's worth Wynonna, I understand why you did what you did."

Wynonna nodded and watched as Nicole walked away.

 

*****

 

Nicole opened the door to her apartment to the sound of music playing and Waverly dancing around while she cleaned. She quietly closed the door, took off her coat and set the bag of groceries down before softly approaching the brunette from behind as she swayed her hips to the music. Waverly spun around and collided with Nicole, letting out a scream at the unexpected contact.

Waverly smacked Nicole with the towel in her hand, "Jesus Christ Nicole, you scared the shit out of me."

Nicole laughed and wrapped her arms around Waverly, who promptly pushed on her chest, "It's not funny Nicole, you really scared me."

"I'm sorry baby, you just looked so sexy doing that little dance and I couldn't help myself, I didn't mean to scare you." 

Waverly wrapped her arms around Nicole's neck and placed a quick kiss on her lips, "You are lucky that you're so cute." She placed another kiss on Nicole's mouth. "And, you're lucky I love you as much as I do."

Nicole looked down at Waverly, "And how much do you love me?"

Waverly looked Nicole in the eye as she spoke, "More than my own life Nicole. I get so scared sometimes when you're out there on patrol." She looked away for a moment before returning her gaze to Nicole's, "Promise me that you'll always be careful, if anything happens to you I don't know what I'll do."

Nicole's tone became serious, "I promise you Wave, I'm not going to let anything happen to me okay?"

"Good, because I plan on having you around for a long, long time."

Nicole kissed Waverly on the forehead and moved back towards the door to pick up the bag of groceries. "I'm making you dinner tonight and then I'm going to spend the rest of the evening pampering you, how does that sound?"

"Sounds like heaven but first, I'm going to go jump in the shower."

Nicole watched as Waverly disappeared into the bathroom and she had to fight the urge to join her in the shower, deciding instead to begin preparing their dinner. As she chopped vegetables on the counter she sang along to the music that was still playing and as she heard the water from the shower shut off she grinned and transferred them into the pot of simmering broth. 

The sound of the hair dryer turning on drew Nicole to the bathroom and she stood in the doorway and watched as Waverly began to dry her hair. Nicole loved Waverly's hair and she could stand there in fascination whenever Waverly did anything to it and this time was no exception. 

Waverly glanced over and noticed that Nicole was standing in the doorway and she turned off the dryer, "Honey, why are you staring at me like that?"

Nicole took a step towards her, reaching out she took a strand of Waverly's hair between her fingers, "Because you are the most beautiful woman I've ever set eyes on Waverly Earp and i adore you." Leaning in she placed a soft kiss onto the brunette's forehead, "I'm going to go finish making dinner."

A hand wrapping around her wrist stopped her from leaving the bathroom, "You don't get to just leave after saying such sweet things to me Nicole Haught." Waverly tugged on her arm and pulled her close, leaning up to place a kiss on Nicole's lips. "Fine, go and I'm holding you to the whole I'm going to pamper you thing."

Nicole winked at her before turning and Waverly reluctantly let go of Nicole's arm. She continued to dry her hair and when she finished she walked out of the bedroom and put on a pair of comfortable yoga pants and an old t-shirt of Nicole's. She moved over towards the couch and sat down so that she could watch Nicole working in the kitchen. "You want me to put some different music on?"

Glancing over at Waverly Nicole answered, "No, I like this."

Waverly smiled and nodded, "Hey, this came for you today it looks like some sort of invitation." Holding up the envelope so Nicole could see it, "Wait a second, it's addressed to both of us."

Nicole walked over to the couch, "Who's it from?" She took it out of Waverly's hand and looked at the envelope, "From the office of Councilman Cryderman." Nicole opened the envelope, "It's an invitation to a party for the citizens of Purgatory at the Wainwright Hotel, for both of us."

Waverly looked puzzled, "That's weird, who knows that I'm here, besides my sisters?"

"Nobody, as far as I know." Nicole's brow creased as she tried to work out who could have known, "It's weird, but that's kind of par for the course for this town."

"So, do you want to go?"

"I kind of have to work that night," She paused at the disappointed look on Waverly's face and reached over to take her hand, "If I wasn't working I would totally take you, you know that right?"

"I know Nicole, it's just that I'm going to miss out on the chance to see you all dressed up."

Nicole got up off the couch, "Why don't you take a seat at the table and I'll bring you some soup."

Waverly picked up the invitation and stared at it, wondering if Nicole would be bothered by the fact that she really wanted to go to the party. She needed something to take her mind off of the fact that her own sister took great pleasure in ruining her life. 

"Wave? What are you doing?" 

Waverly snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see Nicole standing by the table with a curious expression on her face. "Oh dinner is ready, I'm coming Nicole."

Nicole pulled out her chair and Waverly sat down in it. As the two of them began eating Nicole told Waverly about her encounter with Wynonna at the market. "She really is sorry Wave but I told her she needs to give you time." At the look on Waverly's face Nicole thought that maybe she shouldn't have interfered, "I'm sorry Wave, I didn't mean to overstep..."

Waverly reached over and took Nicole's hand, "No, it's fine. You want to protect me and I love you for it."

They spent the rest of the meal talking and later that night Waverly fell asleep in Nicole's arms as they watched a movie, neither of them could know that in a couple days time their lives would change forever.

 

*****

 

Two days later Waverly pulled up in front of the Wainwright hotel, she was arriving a bit late and as she entered through the front door she paused and looked around until her gaze locked on Nicole who was standing on the other side of the room talking with Sheriff Nedley. They were both on high alert because an anonymous person had called in some information the day before that the townspeople would be in danger. That was the extent of the what they knew and the Sheriff and Nicole were determined to keep the citizens of Purgatory safe from any threat.

Waverly didn't want to bother Nicole while she was working so she went in search of her friend, Chrissy Nedley. Waverly stayed upstairs for the better part of an hour and when she saw her sisters huddled together on the opposite side of the room she decided to head back downstairs to see Nicole. She had zero interest in what either of them had to say and if she was being honest with herself she didn't really care either. 

A small part of her wanted to forgive Wynonna for not telling her the truth and she could understand why she didn't, but that didn't change the fact that she had kept something that important from her for years. Wynonna had hurt her deeply and she wasn't ready to forgive her.

Willa on the other hand was another story. It's not that Waverly hated her oldest sister, she really didn't but if she were being honest with herself she had to admit that she wouldn't have minded if Willa had never come back into their lives. Willa had been cruel to her when they were children and her behavior only proved to Waverly that she would never change.

As she slowly walked down the stairs she noticed Nicole standing by the doorway, but she wasn't alone. Champ Hardy had her cornered and was in her face and Waverly could tell from her position on the stairs that Nicole was quickly losing the battle to stay calm in the face of Waverly's Ex. Waverly paused on the stairs as Nicole stepped around him but Champ wouldn't give up that easily and he had the nerve to grab Nicole's arm as she tried to walk away.

"Don't you walk away from me!" Champ drunkenly slurred, "As soon as we broke up you just swooped in and stole my girl!"

Nicole yanked her arm away from Champ's grip, "If you touch me again Champ I'll arrest you. I'm on duty."

"I don't give a shit what you are, you stole my girl from me!"

Nicole could feel her anger rising higher and higher with every word that came out of Champ's mouth, "First of all lower your voice, second of all Waverly is her own person, nobody owns her."

Champ was too drunk to realize he was treading on very thin ice with Nicole and he foolishly reached out with a finger and poked Nicole in the chest, "Well it's a good thing I came to my senses and dumped her ass isn't it? Well, you can have her because she's nothing but a good for nothing Earp anyway, always bitching at me, never caring about my needs, no good in bed. She's nothing but a bitch and I'm glad to be rid of her!" He was almost shouting at this point too drunk and too stupid to care that he had pushed Nicole too far at this point. If he had been sober he probably wouldn't have missed the ever darkening shade of red that Nicole's face was turning along with the narrowing of her eyes.

She slapped his hand away from her chest and stepped right in front of him until she was literally right in his face. Ignoring the overpowering scent of the cheap champagne that he had overindulged she hissed in his face, "Say one more word Hardy and I'll..."

Champ shoved Nicole away from him, "Get away from me you dyke bitch!" 

Waverly had been standing halfway down the stairs and had heard the entire exchange. At first she had been upset when an entire roomful of eyes had turned towards her as Champ's shouts had effectively outed her to everyone within earshot, but when the homophobic slur came out of his mouth she had heard enough. "Champ! How dare you say those hateful words to Nicole!" She took several steps toward them, her own anger rising. "And for your information, she didn't steal me from you and you sure as hell didn't dump me, it was the other way around! The only person to blame here is you, you shithead. You cheated on me every chance you got and took me for granted and now you want to blame Nicole who's been nothing but supportive and loving."

Champ stepped away from Nicole and took a staggering step towards Waverly, "I can't believe you fell for her bullshit Waverly and I can't believe I wasted so many years with you when all you did is drag me down." He took another step up towards Waverly who stepped backwards and she flinched as the glass in his hand shattered as he gripped it too tight in anger.

Nicole had seen and heard enough and the terrified look on Waverly's face was more than enough to spring her into action she reached out and grasped the back of Champ Hardy's shirt, pulling him away from Waverly and spinning him towards her. Swinging her arm forward she connected her fist with Champ's face, landing a solid blow to the left side of his face. As Champ fell onto his ass and lay motionless on the floor Nicole flexed her hand in pain and looked up at Waverly who was looking down at Nicole with a mixture of awe and something else in her eyes. Waverly was impressed and Nicole swallowed as she realized that she had seen that look in the brunette's eyes just last night, Waverly was turned on and Nicole's breath caught in her throat as Waverly began to descend the stairs towards her.  
"Haught!" The moment was broken as Sheriff Nedley's voice boomed from behind Nicole, "You want to tell me what the hell happened here? Why is Hardy on the ground?"

Nicole slowly turned towards the sheriff and tried to hide her hand, but it was too late, he had already seen her bloody knuckles and had put two and two together. "Nicole, what did you do?"

Before Nicole could answer him someone spoke from the top of the stairs, "Honestly Waverly, you sure can pick them. I saw the whole thing sheriff, I saw your deputy hit that man for no reason." 

Nicole looked towards the top of the stairs and right into the cold eyes of Willa Earp and her heart sank as she realized that the woman's vindictiveness was now turned towards her and it was only done so as a way to hurt Waverly. As the sheriff stood next to her and told Nicole that the would have to go to the station until he got to the bottom of things. The last thing she recalled seeing as she was led away by the sheriff was the self satisfied smirk that resided on Willa's face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shit is about to hit the fan in more ways than one

Nedley drug Nicole around the corner, away from the group on the stairs, when they were out of sight he stopped and began to speak, "Haught, you need to start using your head. You are a representative of this department and you can't just go around hitting the citizens that you're sworn to protect!" He paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing, "Even if one of those citizens deserves to be knocked on his ass."

Nicole was surprised by his statement, "Sir, I..."

Nedley held up his hand and cut her off, "Haught, you're one of my best people and I don't want lose you because you're easily goaded into acts of violence. I know that Miss Earp means a lot to you so I understand why you did what you did, but damnit Nicole you need to do things the right way."

Nicole was trying to keep her voice and temper down as she replied to him, "Sir, he was threatening her and I wasn't going to stand by and let him attack her, he's assaulted her before." Nedley raised his eyebrows and Nicole nodded, "The first time I hit him I did it because I saw him strike her arcross the face. I love her sir and I'll do anything to protect her, anything."

"Anyone with eyes can see how you feel about her but that doesen't excuse the fact..." A piercing scream interupted him and the pair looked at each other before running back into the main room. 

They encountered utter chaos, people were running around screaming, some foaming at the mouth. Others were shouting that they were looking for Wynonna Earp. Nicole was confused when she overheard one woman say that she intended to hand her over to Bobo Del Rey while she babbled about a cure. Nedley turned towards Nicole, "You stay down here and try to control the crowd, do the best you can. I'm going to go upstairs and see what I can do." 

Nicole watched him hurry upstairs and she instantly turned towards the room, her eyes seeking out the one person who meant everything to her. She relaxed as she saw Waverly walking quickly in her direction. That relaxed feeling left her and she tensed up, frowning as she saw who Waverly was with, Willa. In the short amount of time that Nicole had known Waverly's oldest sister she had grown to despise her. The woman seemed to live for making others miserable and Nicole had no use for someone like her.

Waverly smiled at Nicole and didn't seem to notice the way the redhead was angrily staring Willa down as the approached. "Nicole, you need to come with us, it's not safe here."  
"What is going on Wave, everyone's gone crazy."

Waverly took her hand, "I don't have time to explain Nic but they're going after my family and we need to get out of here." 

Nicole squeezed her hand, "Baby, you know I can't do that, these people need me, even if they are a bunch of crazy hicks off their rockers. You're dating a cop and we go where the danger is." 

At her words, Waverly swallowed as a rush of heat washed through her body, "That's so sexy." She leaned in closer to Nicole, "If you only knew what that does to me." 

Nicole reached out and lightly trailed a finger along the bare skin of Waverly's collarbone, "And what's that?" 

The pair were so wrapped up in each other that neither of them noticed Willa sneaking away. Waverly looked up at Nicole through her eyelashes, "Guess you'll have to find out later, but I need to know something," She opened her eyes fully and looked Nicole in the eye as she asked, "Did you have any champagne tonight?"

Nicole looked confused for a second then shook her head, "No, did you?"

"No." Waverly looked up and finally noticed that her sister had disappeared, "Shit, Willa. Where the hell did she go? Wynonna's going to kill me."

Nicole shrugged her shoulders but would never admit out loud that she wasn't sorry that Willa was gone. "No idea. Waverly, what's going on? What's happening to them?" She gestured with her hand towards the chaos surrounding them.

"I promise when all this is over I'll tell you what's going on but for now, I have to go find her. She's still my sister." She reached out and cupped Nicole's cheek with her hand. "I love you." Leaning in she brought her lips to Nicole's and the kiss she gave the redhead had all the love she felt behind it. She didn't care that they were standing in the middle of a room filled with others, all that mattered was that Nicole was in her arms and that she was safe.

Nicole broke the kiss and leaned her forehead against Waverly's, "I love you too Waves. Go, but if anything happens, call me okay?"

Waverly nodded and kissed Nicole on the cheek, she sighed, reluctantly leaving Nicole. She rushed over to the coat closet and grabbed her coat before leaving the hotel in search of her sister. She couldn't know that by the end of the evening things would be worse .

 

*****

 

Nicole knew that the hotel was a lost cause. Everyone seemed to be infected by whatever they had ingested from the champagne and she couldn't find the Sheriff. She also hadn't heard from Waverly and she was worried about her. If the crazed townspeople were hunting Earps then Waverly was in danger. 

She made the decision to leave the hotel and made her way outside, moving quickly towards the police station. She needed to change out of her dress and grab some things from her locker before she could begin to search for Waverly. And, if she was going to help get the town back under control she was going to need all the help she could get. She would need weapons and other officers, if she could find them.

Entering the police station she made her way towards the locker room but the sound of voices coming from inside the Black Badge Offices made her pause for a moment. Knowing that the offices were off limits she decided with everything that was happening it was worth the risk to go inside, drawing in a deep breath she hurried inside. As she got closer she realized who the voices belonged to, Deputy Marshall Dolls and the man who was staying in the barn at the Homestead, Doc. 

They were arguing amongst themselves but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying so she skidded to a halt in the doorway and said, "Have you seen it out there, the whole town has gone crazy." Noticing the open weapons locker and seeing the arsenal it contained she said, "I don't know what you're doing but I'm game."

Dolls, in true form looked at her and said, "You shouldn't be here, it's classified."

Nicole's face fell but as she continued to look at the men she noticed Doc rolling his eyes. Her own eyes widened as Doc began to tell her things. He told her about the Earp curse, how Black Badge was in charge of monitoring the demons that were overrunning the town and the strangest thing of all that he was "the" Doc Holliday. Before finishing he added, "And Dolls over here, well he's just an asshole."

Nicole stood there, not knowing what to do at first, "Well shit, it all makes sense now." She looked over at Dolls who was giving her an odd look, "Except for that last part of course."

Doc grinned at her and tossed her a shotgun, "So officer, are you in?"

Nicole pumped the shotgun, "Hell yeah."

Dolls began to bark orders at them both, he wanted her to find Nedley and to see if the rest of the officers were still capable of doing their jobs or if the poison had incapacitated them as well. The last thing that Dolls said to her before she left the room was, "Welcome to the Black Badge Division."

A grin broke out on her face at his words and she hurriedly left the room to go change. Now that she finally knew what was going on she was more determined than ever to do everything in her power to protect Waverly. She took her phone out of her purse and dialed Waverly's number, frowning as it went to voice mail, "Hey Wave I need you to call me back as soon as you get this, we have some things to talk about. Love you." She ended the call and as she changed into the uniform she always kept in her locker, she began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't quite right. The fact that Waverly wasn't answering her phone compounded with the fact that the entire town seemed to be losing their minds gave that something terrible was about to happen. 

 

*****

 

What Nicole couldn't have known is that her gut feeling was right. As Waverly came to she found herself sitting inside the sheriff's office, unable to move. Her head was foggy and she struggled to take in her surroundings, someone who looked strangely like her friend Chrissy Nedley was pacing back and forth in front of her. She couldn't speak and she couldn't move and as the fog began to lift from her brain she realized that her arms and legs were bound and there was something covering her mouth. 

She remembered leaving Nicole at the Wainwright to go in search of Willa. Waverly wished that she could just forget about her sister who had brought nothing but misery into her life for as long as she could remember. Willa had been a mean and bitter child and Waverly had always been her favorite target. When they thought that Willa had been killed by the revenants Waverly couldn't remember being sad. She had always felt guilty about not mourning her eldest sister but since Willa had returned and picked up where she left off, that guilt had quickly left her. 

Waverly was struggling to wrap her brain around what was happening and how she had gotten to this point, but she knew that for some reason Chrissy Nedley was involved. Her friend seemed agitated and was pacing back and forth across her father's office. Waverly was still groggy from the effects of whatever had been used on her to render her unconscious and she closed her eyes for what she assumed was only a moment until someone was roughly shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to find the cold dark eyes of her eldest sister staing back at her, this was enough to startle Waverly out of her foggy brain. 

Willa reached up and touched her face, "We were so worried about you sis, you're okay?"

Waverly could see past Willa's fake concern and whatever game she was playing put the brunette on edge. She looked over towards where she had last seen Chrissy and found her childhood friend in a heap on the floor, Wynonna was kneeling over her. "Is she..."

Willa huffed out a breath, "Alive, yeah she is. I can't believe you let that idiot get the drop on you." Willa less than gently pulled the tape from off her arms. "We need to go back to the Wainwright."

Waverly was confused, "What? Why?"

"We have to find Peacemaker, it was lost in all the confusion." At Waverly's confused look she rolled her eyes, "Get up, we need to go, unless you want the man responsible for daddy's death to get away with all of this."

At the mention of Wynonna's gun, Waverly became nervous and reached out to grab the purse that was laying on the floor next to her. She picked it up and brought it up against her body, her hands wrapped around it in a vice of steel. 

At Waverly's actions Willa looked down at her sister and the truth dawned on her face, "You took it." She hissed as she reached out and gripped the purse, trying to take it away from Waverly. "Give it to me, you little shit."

A voice came from above them, "What the hell is going on here?" Before either of them could react Wynonna reached down and snatched the purse away from both of them. She looked at Waverly and could see the scared look on her sister's face, "You okay?"

Waverly nodded as Wynonna helped her to her feet with her free hand and led her outside of Nedley's office, Willa's voice rang out from behind them, "Waverly took Peacemaker from me, as always she's messing everything up! I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't drink the poison."

"I didn't!" Turning towards Wynonna she insisted, "I didn't have any of the champagne, I swear."

Willa scoffed, "Really, I saw you Waverly, you drank some and now you're acting delusional."

Wynonna looked between her sisters and tried to determine what exactly was going on. Turning towards Waverly she asked, "Babygirl, why did you take Peacemaker from Willa?"

"I don't trust her Wynonna, something about her isn't right." Waverly leaned back against the counter, "I mean, she's never been quite right but ever since she came back, she's been worse."

Wynonna gave Waverly an odd look, "Years of being held prisoner will do that to you Waves. We don't know what she went through."

Waverly looked down at the ground, she felt guilty for a moment for almost forgetting about that piece of information. But then she remembered how nasty Willa had been to her since returning and how utterly horrible she had been to Nicole. She brought her gaze back up and fixed it on Wynonna, "Then maybe she should go to therapy instead of taking it out on me and Nicole. I'm tired of being her punching bag and as far as I'm concerned..." Her voice trailed off and her breath caught in her throat as she looked over at Willa and found herself staring down the barrell of a gun.

"As far as your concerned, what? Like I care about what you or that ginger butch cop think about me." Willa's gaze shifted between her two sisters before settling on Wyonna, "All I want is what's rightfully mine so that Robert and I can get out of this hellhole, give me Peacemaker Wynonna."

Wynonna's face betrayed her feelings to her older sister, "Will, what are you doing? Are you forgetting who you are? Who we are?" 

Willa rolled her eyes, "Of course I know who I am, I'm the goddamn Earp heir, the rightful heir and you two are standing in the way of my destiny so if you don't mind I'll be taking what's mine now."

"You'd turn your back on your family, for a filthy demon. I can't believe this."

Willa's face turned red, she was livid, "You all turned your back on me and let me rot all those years in that treehouse! I kept thinking that at least you would come find me Wynonna but no, you never came. Waverly was useless but you, you were my best friend."

"I was a kid Willa and I was dealing with so much, I watched them drag you away and I...I shot daddy. What was I supposed to do?"

"You gave up on me Wynonna and I'll never forgive you for that, just like I'll never forgive her." She gestured towards Waverly with her thumb, "For being the reason Momma left." Returning her attention back towards Wynonna she said, "Give me the gun or I'll shoot your sister."

Willa's voice lacked any kind of emotion and Wynonna's eyes widened as Willa pointed the gun at Waverly's head. "You wouldn't shoot our sister, Willa, you just wouldn't."  
Waverly pushed back against the counter in fear, "Wynonna, you need to give her the gun."

Wynonna shook here head, "Not a chance Waves, there's no way she's going to shoot you."

"Look at her Wynonna, are you willing to take that chance?" Her phone rang and she flinched as Nicole's ring tone broke the tense silence of the room.

She heard footsteps approaching and she silently screamed for it not to be Nicole. Willa was crazy and she didn't want the redhead anywhere near the danger that she and Wynonna were currently in. Her breathing sped up with each approaching footstep, she held her breath so she wouldn't scream out loud as she saw a flash of red hair and long legs walk quickly into the room.

Nicole made a beeline towards Waverly and completely missed the threat that loomed from across the room. She flashed a dimpled smile at Waverly as she tucked her phone into her coat pocket with the hand that wasn't holding her gunbelt within it. "I thought I heard your phone ringing, I've been calling you..." She trailed off as she noticed the look of terror on the brunette's face, "Wave, what's wrong?" 

Waverly spoke but her voice was barely over a whisper and Nicole had to strain to hear what she said, "Nicole, stay there, don't move."

Nicole looked confused but as she turned and followed Waverly's gaze she finally noticed the threat that stood across the room from them. "What the..."

Willa narrowed her eyes and it was obvious that she had had enough at this point. "Look, all I want is what I came for, give it to me and I'll let you live, it's as simple as that." Her eyes shifted until they met Nicole's dark brown one's, she wanted to make sure that the redhead knew she was serious. "Or, you can continue to stall Wynonna and there will be one less Earp in this world because I've had it up to here with..."  
Nicole could feel her anger rising at Willa’s words, "If you think I'm going to stand here while you threaten Waverly, think again."

Willa huffed out a breath, "Like you have any say in what's about to happen." She moved the gun until it was once again pointing directly at Waverly's head.

Wynonna finally spoke, "She's not going to shoot her Nicole." She looked over at Willa, "She's our sister, she won't kill her."

Nicole's voice came from beside her, "You willing to risk that Wynonna, cause I'm not." 

Wynonna turned her head towards the right as Waverly said, "Wynonna give her the gun."

"I can't Wave. If I give it to her I won't be able to stop Bobo." 

Willa shifted her gaze back towards Wynonna as she cocked the hammer on her pistol, "I'm done waiting, you have until the count of three."

Wynonna stared back at her sister, "Don't do this Willa."

"One."

Nicole was feeling a strange mixture of fear and anger, Waverly was in danger and it was killing her. "Wynonna!"

"Two."

Nicole began to plead, "Please Wynonna, we can't lose her, not like this."

"Three."

Wynonna held up her hands, "Wait! Fine, take the damn gun." She slid it across the floor towards Willa. "Just take it and go."

Willa laughed, "I used to think that Waverly was the weak one, but I was wrong. You're way too emotional Wynonna."

"Don't think for a second that I won't find you, this isn't over."

"Thought you might say that." Before anyone could react she raised the pistol and fired, twice.

Waverly closed her eyes but the bullet never hit home, instead she heard a sharp gasp and something hitting the floor. Another shot rang out and she felt something pass very closely by her head and then the sound of someone quickly leaving the room. Opening her eyes she saw Nicole on the ground and Wynonna standing over the redhead with her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

Waverly could hear Nicole struggling to breathe as her own breath caught in her throat, pushing down the panic she was feeling she took the few necessary steps to reach Nicole and dropped to her knees next to her. Tears streamed from her eyes, "Baby, you're going to be fine, you have to be. You can't leave me. I love you Nicole." She looked up at her sister who was rooted to the spot, "Wynonna! Help us please."

Waverly's desperate tone forced her to snap out of it and Wynonna looked down at the redhead laying on the floor. "There's no blood, how can that be? I swear you better not be a revenant Red."

Waverly looked up at her sister, "She's been in the Homestead you idiot, she can't be a revenant." Waverly reached down and began to unbutton Nicole's shirt, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that she was wearing her bullet proof vest. As she continued to open Nicole's shirt the redhead's body shifted. It was then that Waverly noticed the blood pooling underneath Nicole's body. "Wynonna she's hurt, where's it coming from?" 

"I'll call an ambulance and then I'm going after her, I want you to stay with Nicole. I can't let her get away with this and if she does what she's planning to do then we are all going to be in a whole lot of danger." She placed a hand on Waverly's shoulder as she took out her phone and as she began to speak she walked from the room leaving Waverly and Nicole alone.  
Waverly was fighting the panic that was swiftly growning inside her, Nicole was so still and the blood pool was growing and spreading out around her. She could hear the sirens getting closer and as she ran her hand along the side of Nicole's face she softly whispered, "Hold on baby, they're almost here, just hold on okay?" She held Nicole's hand and silently prayed for them to hurry as the rise and fall of Nicole's chest began to slow down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isn’t Willa just the worst? Poor Nicole!  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading and commenting, until next time!


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